Lady Frieda Harris
In their own terms: A society artist who discovered that painting the tarot was a spiritual practice in itself
As history sees them: The artist who elevated tarot illustration to fine art — her paintings hang in the Warburg Institute
Painted all 78 cards of the Thoth deck over five years (1938-1943). Her modernist, abstract expressionist style was unprecedented for tarot. Funded the project through stipends to Crowley. Bequeathed the original paintings to the Warburg Institute.
Biography
Born Marguerite Frieda Bloxam on August 13, 1877, in London. She was a society figure and artist, married to Sir Percy Harris, a Liberal Member of Parliament. Little is known of her artistic training, but by the late 1930s she was painting in a modernist style influenced by projective geometry and abstract expressionism.
She met Aleister Crowley on June 9, 1937, through playwright Clifford Bax, after two other artists failed to appear for an appointment. Despite being 60 years old and from a respectable political background, she was captivated by Crowley's vision for a new tarot deck. She became his 'disciple' and joined the OTO in 1938. She funded the project through regular stipends to Crowley and used her society connections to find backers.
Harris originally intended to paint a traditional deck, but Crowley encouraged her to fully encode his occult, magical, and scientific philosophy. Many cards were painted multiple times over the five-year collaboration. Her art elevated tarot illustration to fine art — unprecedented modernist paintings that incorporated sacred geometry, color theory, and psychological depth. She exhibited the original paintings publicly in London in 1942. She died May 11, 1962, bequeathing the paintings to Gerald Yorke, who placed them with the Warburg Institute.
Key Works
- ILLUSTRATED Thoth Tarot paintings (1943) — 78 modernist paintings, now in the Warburg Institute
Intellectual Lineage
Influenced by
- Aleister Crowley collaborated Crowley directed Harris's paintings for the Thoth deck over 5 years
Timeline
Crowley meets Lady Frieda Harris
Meeting on 9 June 1937 through playwright Clifford Bax. Harris was a society figure and artist, wife of Liberal MP Sir Percy Harris. Beginning of the collaboration that would produce the Thoth deck.
Crowley and Harris create the Thoth deck
Five-year collaboration producing the most intellectually ambitious tarot deck ever created. Incorporates Golden Dawn correspondences (modified), Thelemic philosophy, quantum physics imagery, projective geometry, and alchemical symbolism. Many cards painted multiple times. Harris's art is modernist/abstract expressionist.
Lady Frieda Harris dies
Dies 11 May 1962. Bequeathed the original Thoth paintings to Gerald Yorke, who placed them with the Warburg Institute, where they survive as fine art objects.