Modern Spirituality

Ithell Colquhoun, Attributes of the Moon  1947

Attributes of the Moon 1947 is one of Colquhoun’s largest paintings and is formed entirely from decalcomania. It suggests a mystical figure in a mountainous landscape. The figure stands on a rocky outcrop on top of a crescent form suggesting the new moon, and the small globe shapes around the figure’s head are also reminiscent of lunar forms. The predominantly purple and blue tones of the painting create the effect of a dream or night landscape and the title alludes to the mysteries of the cosmos. Attributes of the Moon depicts a mystical goddess figure in a landscape entirely formed from decalcomania, and employing this technique on a much larger scale than her other works. It was one of the works exhibited in her solo show of paintings at the Mayor Gallery in March 1947. Colquhoun was interested in pagan goddess figures and the ways in which their worship was linked to the lunar cycle. In keeping with her interest in both surrealist methods and the occult, the work both looks inward to the unconscious through the use of automatic techniques and outward to the cosmos in its evocation of pagan magic. Although the forms of this painting call to mind a figure, Colquhoun was equally interested in suggesting the workings of the unconscious or evoking a mood, as creating representational forms. She wrote about the process:

Winifred Nicholson, Recollect  1973

Wilkie owned four paintings by Winifred Nicholson, two of which were acquired by the Tate Gallery. These are 'The Hunter's Moon' which is shown nearby, and this painting. Both works demonstrate Wilkie's interest in collecting paintings on the theme of the seasons. 'The Hunter's Moon' evokes autumn which was seen by the artist as a time of adventure. 'Recollect', however, was painted in late spring 1973 and suggests a sense of looking back and remembering. This sentiment seems to have been shared by Wilkie. He remarked: 'The pictures of Winifred Nicholson represent for me the world of childhood and early adolescence. It is a world of order, security and cultivated civilisation'.

Gallery label, September 2004

Pamela Colman Smith, ‘Impromptu’ Sinding  1907

‘Impromptu’ Sinding is one of several drawings by Pamela Colman Smith that were inspired by classical music. Colman Smith initially sketched out their designs with automatic drawing while listening to the music before working up these free sketches into finished drawings. Executed in June 1907, it depicts three female figures in flowing robes and wearing S-shaped headdresses sitting on a cliff in a rocky landscape. A tower is visible on another cliff in the distance. The drawing is inscribed by Smith on the verso: ‘The Rulers of the World “And they sit in far off silent places, and thoughts grow up like towers out of the earth”’. It was inspired by the Norwegian composer Christian Sinding’s Impromptu for piano, op. 31/4 1896. The drawing is executed in watercolour and ink on paper, in muted tones but with small touches of a distinctive bright pink and orange pigments to highlight aspects of the figures. Also in Tate’s collection are Grieg ‘Spring Song’ 1907 (Tate T15362) and Mozart ‘Symphony “Prague”’ 1907 (Tate T15364).

Obiora Udechukwu, The Moon Has Ascended Between Us  1976

Partou Zia, Flowering Rod  2006

Flowering Rod 2006 is a large painting in oil on canvas that depicts a grey and blue figure standing in a landscape and holding a rod with red flowers. Green smoke is emanating from the figure’s mouth. There is an uprooted, upside-down tree on the left of the image, with further red blooms in the centre. The elements of the painting are not in proportion to one another. The image is somewhat dreamlike in quality, expressed in this lack of perspective, the loose brushwork and the hazy background, with little distinction between land and sky. The figure is likely to be a self-portrait of the artist. Self-portraits were a particularly important aspect of Zia’s work in expressing her identity as a woman and painter. They also reflected her ongoing interest in the intuitive, spirituality and the development of self-knowledge.

Patrick Heron, Green and Purple Painting with Blue Disc : May 1960  1960

In this work, an irregular blue disc hovers in front of a field of green and purple, seeming to expand and contract within the flat picture plane. Even when he eliminated recognisable subject matter, Heron’s abstractions stemmed from his observations of the visual world. He denied that he consciously painted ‘landscapes’, but affirmed: ‘the enormously powerful rhythmic energies of the granite outcrops beneath my feet transmit certain rhythms straight up through the soles of my shoes every minute of the day.’

Gallery label, May 2007

Zoe Williams, Lemon Heel  2019

Zoe Williams, Small Fish head acid vision  2020

Joan Miró, Women and Bird in the Moonlight  1949

This work belongs to a series of paintings that Miró made in 1949–50 in Majorca. Miró’s use of simple shapes and bright colours constitutes a highly personal visual language, often charged with symbolic meaning. In this case, the women and bird of the title are easily identifiable under the moon and stars. This imagery suggests a harmonious and elemental relationship between man and nature, which the artist felt was threatened by modern civilisation.

Gallery label, August 2013

Denzil Forrester MBE, Cottage Lover  1997

Frances Hodgkins, Loveday and Ann: Two Women with a Basket of Flowers  1915

Frances Hodgkins came to Britain in 1901 from the confined artistic scene of New Zealand. Spending long periods in Cornwall, home to the Newlyn and St Ives Schools, and in Paris, where she taught at the Académie Colarossi, Hodgkins ploughed her own furrow. In typically individualistic style, this portrait combines the mobility of watercolour with the intensity of oil, showcasing the artist's idiosyncratic drawing and quirky sense of colour.

Gallery label, February 2010

Wolfgang Paalen, The Messenger  1941