Washington Allston (1779-1843)

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Washington Allston, Secret Societies, and the Alchemy of Anglo-American Painting  by David Bjelajac

Washington Allston was one of the preeminent American painters of the early nineteenth century. Attuned to the occult mysteries of Freemasonry and vitalistic theories of chemical optics, contemporaries interpreted the painter's transmutation of pigments into light as an alchemical process that resulted in spiritual gold. Confronting anti-theatrical, anti-Masonic criticism, Allston's alchemical paintings of angels and angelic beings also represent chemical theories of color and optics that analogously signify the triunity of God's universe and political economy.

Contents:

Chapter One; Allston and the Masonic Spirit; Chapter Two; The Venetian Secret as the Philosopher's Stone; Chapter Three; Allston's Pillow; Chapter Four; Wisdom Walks With God; Chapter Five; Milk of Poison or Milk of the Word; Chapter Five; Where Angels Dare to Tread

Allston, Washington (1779-1843)

PAINTER

Considered a pioneering American painter known for his romantic landscapes, Allston was born into a wealthy South Carolina family, attended Harvard and spent 14 years in London studying and painting. In London he became the acquaintance of leading intellectuals including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Washington Irving.

Allston was twice married, but documents discovered by art historian Phoebe Lloyd suggest he left London in 1818 during an intense period of persecution of "sodomites" to escape blackmail.

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