Spiritualist Art in Early Twentieth-Century Aotearoa New Zealand: Minnie Chapman, Sophia Garland Allan and Berta Sinclair Burns
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Spirit drawing, as a means of channelling and expressing communications with spirit entities, has been marginalised in definitions of art as well as in art history. This essay contributes to ongoing and historical conversations in which new religious movements are considered in conjunction with histories of feminism and art, exploring the work of three medium artists: Minnie Chapman (1856–1949), Sophia Garland Allan (1867–1959) and Berta Sinclair Burns (1893–1972). This essay shows how the three artists share spiritualist sensibilities and practices and a visual language of abstraction, decorative expression and particular “universal” biomorphic forms, inviting speculation at the intersection of material culture and esoteric thought.
Source: Journal of New Zealand studies
Author: Joanna Osborne
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4402424759