AN OLD MASTER
THE ART OF ALEISTER CROWLEY
EXHIBIT GUIDE
THE OCTOBER GALLERY LONDON APRIL 7-18 1998 E.V.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS INTERNATIONAL
Numerical keys refer to the colour catalogue revised and corrected May 1998 E.V.
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A Note on Titles
Crowley's works were probably all titled by him, but only rarely on the works
themselves. It has not been possible to examine the reverse of many works in
modern framing in this exhibition. A few titles have been inferred from the title list in
the catalog of his 1931 Berlin show, and from diary entries. Most works remain
untitled.
A Note on Dating
The dating convention used by Crowley in his works is peculiarly his own, dating from
the reception of The Book of the Law (me central text of his religion of Thelema) in
1904, which is taken as year 0 (starting in 0 Aries, i.e. March 20, 1904), and
counting in roman numerals from 0 to XI (suggesting a correspondence to the 22
Tarot trumps), and then restarting at 0 with a modulus-22 carried as a large roman
numeral prefix. Thus xvi would be year 16, dating from 1904, i.e. the spring equinox
of 1920 to that of 1921. For example, would be year 28 in the Thelemic dating
system (the roman I representing the first cycle of 22 years since 1904, plus 6).
Dating from spring 1904 as the beginning of year 0, this would give Aries 1932-
Pisces 1933. These dates are complicated by the fact that astrological signs to not
exactly correspond to months, and the astrological series begins in late March.
A Note on Crowley's Signature
Only Crowley's very earliest works (one example is shown in this exhibition) are
signed by name. After 1918, he stopped signing his name and used his characteristic
phallic "A." This lack of a definite name, and the complications of his dating system,
have probably prevented the identification of works by Crowley by dealers and
collectors.
Catalog Errata
We apologize for typographic errors in the printed catalogue, which are attributable to
the very short production time. Obvious errors are not noted here. The photograph of
the Screen of Dead Souls (p. 7) was taken from a contemporary newspaper article
the central panel does not depict Crowley in the original work. Sally Griffyn is a
photographerand a fine onebut not a photograph. Henry Someville should read
Henry Somerville. The copyright notice for the Frieda Lady Harris portrait should read
Copyright 1962 The Estate of Frieda Harris.
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