ST. ELMO, 1948
Pen, black ink and gouache. 18 x 12in. (46 x 31cm.)
Unsigned. Parkhill Road label on reverse of frame.
Provenance
Bradford, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Accession No. 1948-012, purchased 11th May 1948.
Exhibited
Bradford, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, 1948, No. 172.
Literature
Ratcliffe (2007) illus. col. pl. 29.
The technique is decalcomania.
The central image of the present work and that of the left hand part of Linked Islands II (c1947) are virtually identical and depict Colquhoun’s vision of Santa Warna’s wishing well.
It is not immediately obvious why the work is titled St. Elmo. St Elmo is the patron saint of sailors. Saint Elmo’s fire, the electrical discharge that can sometimes be observed on masts during a storm, is said to be a sign of his protection. Colquhoun’s main interests, Surrealism and alchemy, are both concerned with the resolution of opposites: perhaps the idea of a work named after the patron saint of sailors, but depicting a holy site dedicated to the patron saint of wreckers, is a reflection of this.
Reference
Ratcliffe, E. Ithell Colquhoun. Mandrake, Oxford. 2007.