Georgiana Houghton (1814–1884) first encountered Spiritualism in 1859, when she was in her mid-forties. A séance in which she communicated with her sister Zilla—an accomplished artist who had passed away nine years earlier—convinced her that the movement was not only real but a blessing from God compatible with her devout Christianity. Soon afterwards, she entered training to become a medium.
One day she heard news of another medium who had succeeded in channeling a spirit who guided their hand to produce pictures. Excited by this, Houghton made contact with the spirit realm to ask whether she might collaborate in the same way with Zilla. This proved impossible, but Houghton was introduced to an artist called Angelo, known as Lenny.
In 1861, under Lenny’s instructions, Houghton commenced drawing by hand. The works came naturally, and Houghton was (like Hilma af Klint) surprised to find that this method required no preliminary sketch or revision. “In this new power,” she later wrote, “I had found my life’s work, and went on untiringly from day to day, and week to week.”
Houghton would channel a number of spirits in the production of these extraordinary watercolors. On their reverse are annotations, handwritten by the artist in the voice of the spirit she was channeling. The spirit of the early Christian martyr, Saint Stephen, explains through Houghton that his picture aspired “to impress upon the minds of all the workings of God’s Power,” while the spirit of the Renaissance painter Titian describes the proto-abstract composition of The Eye of the Lord (1862. 09. 22) as an attempt to represent God’s omniscience.
Georgiana Houghton, The Hand of the Lord, 1863. 04. 10. watercolour and gouache. 22.5 × 32 cm
Georgiana Houghton, The Tenderness of the Lord, 1863. 01. 23. watercolour and gouache. 23 × 32 cm
Georgiana Houghton, The Eye of the Lord, 1870. 10. 24. watercolour and gouache. 25 × 35 cm
Georgiana Houghton, The Many Mercies of the Lord, 1864. 12. 16. watercolour and gouache. 23 × 32 cm
Georgiana Houghton, The Omnipresence of the Lord, 1864. 10. 31. watercolour and gouache. 23 × 32 cm
Georgiana Houghton, The Eye of the Lord, 1862. 09. 22. watercolour and gouache. 32.5 × 23.5 cm
Georgiana Houghton, The Eye of God, 1862. 09. 25. watercolour and gouache. 22.5 × 32.2 cm
Georgiana Houghton, The Love of God, 1864. 08. 05. watercolour and gouache. 23 × 32.2 cm
Georgiana Houghton, The Risen Lord, 1864. 06. 29. watercolour and gouache. 23 × 32 cm
