One of the most radical artists of her generation, Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) was an important, but often overlooked figure in British Surrealism. Debuting at Tate St Ives in February 2025, and Tate Britain from June, this landmark exhibition is the largest of Colquhoun’s work ever staged, featuring over 200 artworks and pieces of archival material including painting, drawing and writing; many of which have never been publicly exhibited. The exhibition draws on Tate’s significant archive of the artist’s work, tracing Colquhoun’s evolution from her early work and engagement with the surrealist movement, to her fascination with the intertwining realms of art, sexual identity, ecology, magic and mysticism.
Following a loosely chronological path, the exhibition maps the influence of esoteric and surrealist concepts on the artist’s developing practice from the mid-1920s to the 1980s. Early paintings from her time at the Slade School of Fine Art are presented, including Judith Showing the Head of Holofernes 1929, in which Colquhoun combines biblical subjects with subversive occultist elements, challenging social convention to express her own beliefs. Tate St Ives also presents costume designs for the play The Bird of Hermes c. 1926, the first direct reference to occultist concepts in her practice, which communicated these ideas to a wider public.
The exhibition explores Colquhoun’s visual and conceptual engagement with Surrealism in the 1930s and 40s. Botanical works such as Water-Flower 1938 will emphasise her evolving vision and interest in the uncanny. Colquhoun also became increasingly focused on representations of the human body through the surrealist ‘double image’ during this period, exemplified in Scylla (méditerranée) 1938, one of her most celebrated works, which merges the female form with the natural landscape. The exhibition also offers the first chance to see Colquhoun’s storyboard for an unmade surrealist film titled Bonsoir 1939 in its entirety.
A turning point came in 1939 when she met Gordon Onslow Ford and Roberto Matta, who were using surrealist automatist techniques to create imagery through chance rather than conscious control, intended to mine both the human psyche and other metaphysical realms. This approach became central to the evolution of Colquhoun’s intertwining artistic and occultist practice during the early 1940s when she moved away from traditional painting techniques. Her influential essay The Mantic Stain, 1949 explored the spiritual possibilities of automatism, and the exhibition presents a group of paintings made using the decalcomania technique, involving the pressing together of two surfaces covered with paint to create a mirror image produced without the intentional use of the artist’s hand. Works such as Attributes of the Moon 1947 and Gorgon 1946 emphasise her preoccupation with channelling the spirit world and are paired with their counterpart transfer papers for the first time, to demonstrate Colquhoun’s process.
Colquhoun’s immersion in occultism developed increasingly into the 1940s, embracing ancient philosophical principles including alchemy, paganism, animism and mysticism, coupled with her individual ideas about gender fluidity and interest in harnessing a divine feminine power. Created for her own spiritual progression as well as for public display, her works in this period are full of magical symbolism, flowing energy channels and portals to extra dimensions through spatial diagrams called tesseracts. Other groups of works, such as a series entitled The Diagrams of Love 1940-2 reflect kabbalistic, tantric and alchemical ideas, portraying the merging of male and female forms to create an androgynous whole.
Colquhoun’s understanding of the world as a connected spiritual cosmos brought her to Cornwall from the early 1940s, where she deepened her creative explorations inspired by the region’s ancient landscape, Celtic mythologies, and neolithic monuments. Spending time between London and West Penwith, she acquired a studio in Lamorna in 1949 before settling in Paul. She published extensively: essays, surrealist novels and atmospheric travelogues including The Living Stones: Cornwall in 1957. Colquhoun’s fascination with the mystic charge of Celtic lands is foregrounded at Tate St Ives by visionary works of sacred sites and standing stone configurations in Cornwall, Ireland and Brittany such as Dance of the Nine Opals 1942, brought together in the exhibition for the first time.
The exhibition culminates with a section showcasing Colquhoun’s enamel drip techniques which the artist created during the final years of her life. This includes designs for a set of ‘Taro’ cards, an innovative series often considered the finest synthesis of Colquhoun’s art and magical practice, in which she departed from figuration altogether.
Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds is in partnership with Lockton. With additional support from the Ithell Colquhoun Exhibition Supporters Circle, Tate International Council and Tate Members.
Ithell Colquhoun at Tate Britain runs in parallel with an exhibition of works by Edward Burra, offering visitors the chance to see two influential British artists with one ticket. Edward Burra and Ithell Colquhoun are in partnership with Lockton. Supported by the Edward Burra Exhibition Supporters Circle and Ithell Colquhoun Exhibition Supporters Circle. With additional support from Tate International Council and Tate Members.
At Tate St Ives the exhibition is curated by Katy Norris, Curator, Exhibitions and Displays, Tate St Ives with Emma Sharples, Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Researcher, in consultation with Dr Amy Hale, Honorary Research Fellow at Falmouth University, Professor Alyce Mahon, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at the University of Cambridge and Dr Richard Shillitoe, Independent Writer and Researcher.
At Tate Britain Ithell Colquhoun is curated by Dr Emma Chambers, Curator, Modern British Art, Tate Britain and Katy Norris, Curator, Exhibitions and Displays, Tate St Ives with Eliza Spindel, Assistant Curator, Tate Britain and Emma Sharples, Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Researcher, in consultation with Dr Amy Hale, Honorary Research Fellow, Falmouth University, Professor Alyce Mahon, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at the University of Cambridge and Dr Richard Shillitoe Independent Writer and Researcher.
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Listings information
Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds
1 Feb – 5 May 2025
Tate St Ives, Porthmeor Beach, Cornwall TR26 1TG
Open daily 10.00–17.20
Tickets available at tate.org.uk and +44(0)20 7887 8888
Free for Members. Join at tate.org.uk/members
Edward Burra - Ithell Colquhoun
13 June – 19 October 2025
Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
Open daily 10:00 – 18:00
Tickets available at tate.org.uk and +44(0)20 7887 8888
Free for Members. Join at tate.org.uk/members
About Bharti Kher
Born in the UK (1969) and based between New Delhi and London, Kher draws on a range of philosophies, theologies and mythologies from different cultures. Kher’s works have been exhibited in major institutions around the world, including currently at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and a commission for Hayward Gallery in London. She has had recent solo exhibitions at Arnolfini in Bristol, IMMA in Dublin, and a major commission for Public Art Fund in New York.
Related publications
Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds
Edited by Katy Norris and Emma Chambers
Published 1 Feb 2025
Hardback £40, Paperback £32
240 pages
The first major exhibition of visionary artist Ithell Colquhoun and the first major accompanying publication on the artist. This landmark exhibition and publication of over 200 artworks and archival materials traces Colquhoun’s evolution, from her early student work and engagement with the surrealist movement, to her fascination with the intertwining realms of art, sexual identity, ecology and occultism.
Tate Story Player
Enjoy free multimedia content exploring Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds in greater detail. Featuring contributions from curators Katy Norris and Emma Chambers, with writers Amy Hale and Richard Shillito, artist Bharti Kher, Stone Club (Lally Macbeth and Matthew Shaw), Comedian Stewart Lee and original sound design from Mercury Prize-nominated musician Gwenno. Digital content supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Visit: https://www.tate.org.uk/story-player/ithell-colquhoun
Related events
Bharti Kher in Conversation
1 February 2025, 11.00-12.00; Free with a pre-booked ticket*
Join artist Bharti Kher for a conversation with Giles Jackson, Curator, Interpretation, Tate St Ives. This is a rare opportunity to hear about Kher’s practice, which spans sculpture, painting and drawing and looks to a range of philosophies, theologies and mythologies from different cultures. Tapping into the magical potential of objects, she initiates a dialogue between supernatural ideas and the material pursuits of making.
In Conversation: Ithell Colquhoun
1 February 2025, 14.00-15.00; Free with a pre-booked ticket*
A rare opportunity to hear key writers and researchers on Ithell Colquhoun’s life and practice. Discover her relationship to, and the inspiration she found in the landscapes of Cornwall.
Seminar: The spaces between: From the individual to the collective
2 – 3 May 2025
How can readings of Ithell Colquhoun’s work illuminate the role of individual transformation in relation to a collective movement for change? [insert explanatory line]
Supported by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
The Last Weekend: Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds
3 – 4 May 2025, 10.00-17.20; Free with admission.
A weekend of making, writing and poetry to celebrate the final weekend of Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds, with performances from Morris side, the WAD.
*A gallery admission ticket, Tate Membership or Local’s Pass is also required for entry.
About Lockton
EJ Hentenaar, CEO of Lockton Europe, said ‘Lockton is delighted to support Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds, a landmark exhibition which explores themes of gender, sexuality, identity, and ecology. At Lockton, we are proud of our culture and commitments to embracing diversity and celebrating individuality with our clients, Associates, and communities. We are honoured to support art which champions these shared values of independence, diversity and inclusion.’
As the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage, Lockton is committed to service and empowered with a single-minded focus on delivering results for clients. Over 12,500 Associates across 140 locations provide 65,000 clients globally with creative solutions in risk management, insurance and employee benefits consulting. Lockton prides itself on being purposely unconventional, insatiably curious and uncommonly independent. Lockton is proud to support the arts and through a multi-year partnership with Tate’s exhibition and community programme which champions these qualities. The Lockton Tate Partnership demonstrates our shared values and a commitment to supporting Tate’s mission of providing access to art for all. For more information, visit global.lockton.com/gb/en/tate or LinkedIn.