Colquhoun, Ithell (1906–1988)

English artist and poet. Associated with the English surrealists, her work dealt with mythological and biblical subjects prior to 1930, but she turned to the portrayal of dreamlike states, and in the 1940s painted fantastic plants using various media. From 1956 she lived in Cornwall, where she wrote about and painted themes from the occult and alchemy.

Colquhoun was born in Assam, India, and studied at the Slade School of Art, London, before working in various studios in Paris and Athens. She met André Breton, the leading exponent of surrealism, and the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí in 1933, and exhibited at the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition. Later her work was shown widely in the UK and abroad, and she also contributed articles and poems to the London Bulletin.