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Ithell Colquhoun

Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) was a British Surrealist artist, writer and poet. Born in Assam, India, Colquhoun initially studied at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1927-31, before living for a time in Paris and Athens, where she met Andre Breton in 1939. She joined the London Surrealist group that same year, becoming a contributor to their publication, the London Bulletin before her interest in the occult led to her expulsion from the group. She met, and later married, Toni del Renzio and they were involved with the magazine Arson. After their divorce in 1943, she moved to Cornwall and continued to write and paint, becoming increasingly interested in mythology, alchemy and the occult. Colquhoun took part in numerous exhibitions, including with the London Group, the Royal Academy and the Contemporary Art Society. Her early exhibitions in London were held at The Fine Arts Society and the Mayor Gallery (where she shared an exhibition with Roland Penrose in 1939). Over the past twenty years, her work has been included in many British and international exhibitions about Surrealism.

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