1 OF 4 
Ithell Colquhoun
1 of 4 portraits by Ithell Colquhoun
© reserved; collection National Portrait Gallery, London
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Ithell Colquhoun
by Ithell Colquhoun
ink and wash, 1930s?
18 in. x 12 3/4 in. (458 mm x 324 mm)
Given by The National Trust (Cornwall Regional Office), 1999
Primary Collection
NPG 6485
Sitterback to top
- (Margaret) Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988), Painter and writer. Sitter in 5 portraits, Artist or producer of 4 portraits.
Artistback to top
- (Margaret) Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988), Painter and writer. Artist or producer of 4 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Rideal, Liz, Insights: Self-portraits, 2005, p. 76 Read entry
Artist and writer Colquhoun was associated with Surrealism, Automatism and the Occult. She used her imaginative compositions to explore dreams and the subconscious. This image is one of two from the same sitting that suggest the use of complex mirror arrangements, perhaps reflecting a ‘duality of life’. Two views of the sitter taken at the same time also provoke an idea of alternate aspects of a personality, and its interpretation by different people at different times in different moods.
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 138
Events of 1930back to top
Current affairs
Amy Johnson is the first woman to fly solo to Australia. She flew the 11,000 miles from Croydon to Darwin in a De Havilland Gipsy Moth named Jason and won the Harmon Trophy as well as a CBE for her achievement. She went on to break a number of other flying records, and died while serving in the Air Transport Auxiliary in 1941.Art and science
Noel Coward's play, Private Lives is first performed. The original run starred Gertrude Lawrence and Laurence Olivier as well as Coward himself. Private Lives became Coward's most enduringly successful play.International
Gandhi leads the Salt March. The march to the coast was a direct protest against the British monopoly on the sale of salt and inspired hordes of Indians to follow him and adopt his methods of Satyagraha (non-violent resistance to the British rule of India).Stalin orders the 'liquidation of the kulaks (wealthy farmers) as a class' in a violent attempt to centralise control of agriculture and collectivise farming.
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