I'm looking for the biography of Georgiana Houghton.?

Answer 1

"We have almost no information about the life of Georgiana Houghton before 1859. We know that she was the last out of seven children. She studied classical art which she decided to give up after the death of her younger sister in 1851. She spent all her life in London and never married. She became interested in spiritualism around 1859, first communicating with the spirits by means of "table-tipping," and from 1861 with a small board. The same year, she created her first spiritualist drawings thanks to colour pencils attached to the board. Following the advice of her spiritual guides, she abandoned pencils and started to paint ; an artistic production of visionary works of abstract appearance, which represent also flowers or cosmic fruit. From october 1861, Georgiana Houghton communicated with the spirits announcing that she was to play an important role in the coming milenium - which they called also the "Third Dispensation." At that time, she was known for her weekly receptions which she organized for those interested in her drawings. She wrote two volumes entitled Evenings at Home in Spiritual Séance (published in 1881 and 1882 thanks to an anonymous benefactor), recounting her mediumistic experiences. Georgiana’s father died in 1863, her mother in 1869. After the death of her parents, her brothers refused to help her financially ; she would spend the rest of her life in a state of poverty. In 1871 she exhibited hundred fifty-five of her watercolours at the New British Gallery. Another interesting part of her artistic production consists of spiritualist photographs which she started in 1872. Until 1877 Georgiana visited weekly certain Mr Hudson, a photographer of questionable honesty. She participated in two hundred fifty photographic séances. In 1877 Hudson’s tricks were denounced and Georgiana had to stop this activity. In her own way, Georgiana Houghton invented abstract visionary painting almost forty years before the great Avant-garde painters, such as Wassily Kandinsky or Frantisek Kupka."

There are books as well. Just keep looking.

http://www.abcd-artbrut.org/article.php3?id_article=528
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8365.00274
http://www.woodlandway.org/PDF/Leslie_Price_PP10.pdf
http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/terminals/meinwald/meinwald7.html

Edit+++++++++
Hi Professor! Georgiana's father died in 1863 and A.B. Houghton in '75. Thank you again for your kindness on the Frith question! And I like what you did on the watches.....well done!

Answer 2

Was she the daughter of Arthur Boyd Houghton - a painter of some fame, born 1836?

Hullo 'Guess who at large' - we shouldn't be meeting like this. Thanks for comments. Watches and clocks are one of my subjects.

Answer 3

There is not that much on the web about her. I would suggest asking your local book shop to see if there are any books on her. Good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Christine