Phantoms of Surrealism: An Exploration of the Women Who Made British Surrealism

Author: Rachel Martin

Sheila Legge as Surrealist ‘Phantom’, Trafalgar Square, London, 11th June 1936

Photograph attributed to Claude Cahun Courtesy Jersey Heritage Collections

In a previous blog post, we discussed the Parisian exhibition Elles Font l’Abstraction at the Centre Pompidou. Across the Channel, in London, Whitechapel Gallery is hosting a similar show that analyzes the same overlooked population of art history: women. This archive exhibition, Phantoms of Surrealism, reveals the important role women played in the British Surrealist movement.

Phantoms of Surrealism brings together eleven artists’ works, as well as press cuttings, original correspondence from the 1936 London International Surrealist Exhibition, and photographs of the women who were behind-the-scenes leaders of the Surrealist movement in Britain. Concurrently at Whitechapel is a major retrospective of one such woman leader, Eileen Agar, which one can pay entry to visit. Other artists in the free archive exhibition include Ruth Adams, Elizabeth Andrews, Diana Brinton Lee, Claude Cahun, Ithell Colquhoun, Sheila Legge, Grace Pailthorpe, Elizabeth Raikes, Edith Rimmington and Stella Snead.

The title of the exhibition comes from one of the earliest works of performance art, in which Sheila Legge, dressed in a bridal gown and with her head covered with roses, appeared in Trafalgar Square as a “phantom of Surrealism” in order to launch the London International Surrealist Exhibition, held at the New Burlington Galleries in Mayfair. Taking inspiration from Salvador Dalí’s painting Woman with the Head of Roses (1935), Legge made newspaper headlines and puzzled passersby that summer day.

Legge was not the only phantom of the movement, however. Many women were responsible for organizing the International Surrealist Exhibition as well as being important contributors to the spread of the movement across Britain. Phantoms of Surrealism takes works by these women from Whitechapel Gallery’s own archive, as well as items from the National Galleries of Scotland, Marx Memorial Library, and Jersey Heritage Trust.

Altogether, the exhibition hopes to shed new light on the contribution of women to these previous important exhibitions. Lesser-known figures such as Diana Brinton Lee and Stella Snead are underlined as important strategists and participants in the early history of the movement in the UK, bringing them from obscurity to the public’s eye.

Phantoms of Surrealism analyzes women in the Surrealist movement not simply as actors, but as integral leaders who deserve to be centered in historical analyses. Each artist worked in a particular style and medium, from watercolors or sculpture to photography or poetry. Some artists, such as Grace Pailthorpe, exhibited their works widely with the British Surrealists. Others, like Elizabeth Andrews, grew more experimental and abstract as their careers continued.

British Surrealism itself was a short-lived, London and Birmingham-local movement that left a deep impact on the country’s culture. The then-recently emerged French Surrealists in the interwar period were an immediate influence on groups of artists in the UK, with Salvador Dalí being an important player in spreading the movement through his friendships with various British Surrealist artists. Similar themes of sexuality, dreams, and childhood exist between the British and French Surrealist movements. Even now, when reading articles about the history of the movement, women’s names are hardly mentioned. But as this exhibition shares, they were a fundamental aspect of the movement.

Various past exhibitions in London have brought the British Surrealists to the forefront, such as Camden Art Centre’s 2019 A Tale of Mother’s Bones, which presented works by Grace Pailthorpe and her partner Reuben Mednikoff or Dulwich Picture Gallery’s 2020 British Surrealism, a review of 42 artists in the movement. Both exhibitions analyzed the relevance of Surrealism in our contemporary moment, but neither specifically addressed the specific role that women played in British Surrealism.

Elles Font l’Abstraction and Phantoms of Surrealism come at a moment where entry into galleries is tenuous and body politics seem to be at the front of everyone’s minds. Further, the impact of 2020 saw a buildup in desire to see less works by the artists we have all seen

exhibitions of time and time again. All of these aspects make feminist exhibitions relevant and interesting to audiences around the world, revisiting movements we may recognize with artists we may not.

Phantoms of Surrealism runs from 19th May – 12th December 2021 at Whitechapel Gallery, 77 – 82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX

Opening times: Tuesday – Sunday 11am – 6pm.

Entry is free to this exhibition, other displays such as Eileen Agar: Angel of Anarchy may be paid entry, booking is required for either