Anna Mary Howitt was a painter, writer, and spiritual thinker whose creative life was deeply entwined with her search for deeper truths beyond the material world. While not as widely recognised today, she was a significant figure in 19th-century England’s artistic and spiritual circles, particularly in the context of early feminist thought and the rise of spiritualism. Her art and writing reflect a profound belief in the soul’s journey, the role of inner vision, and the existence of a reality beyond the physical.
Born in 1824 into a progressive, intellectually engaged family, Howitt was educated in an environment that encouraged independent thought and creativity. She initially trained as an artist and studied in Munich at a time when few English women pursued formal artistic education. But over time, her attention turned increasingly toward writing and spiritual exploration, particularly the emerging movement of spiritualism, which sought communication with the spirit world and emphasised the immortality of the soul.
Her most significant contributions came not just through painting, but through her writing—especially in the form of spiritual memoirs, biographical sketches, and accounts of visionary experiences. Howitt believed that artistic inspiration came from a higher, unseen source, and that the imagination could serve as a bridge between the material and the spiritual. She recorded many experiences of trance, automatic writing, and inner visions, often describing them as forms of divine or otherworldly guidance. This conviction placed her in sympathy with a wider network of thinkers, mystics, and reformers who saw art and spiritual practice as fundamentally linked.
One of her key texts, Pioneer Women in the Movement for the Higher Education of Women (1876), not only highlights her role in advocating for women's rights and intellectual development, but also reflects her belief that true education must engage both the intellect and the spirit. She viewed creativity and moral insight as inseparable, believing that the ideal society would be one where artistic expression was rooted in ethical and spiritual awareness.
Her drawings and watercolours, though less well preserved and less widely known than her writing, were often allegorical and poetic, hinting at inner realities and spiritual truths. She was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and the broader Romantic tradition, but her sensibility was more inward-looking—concerned not with medieval revivalism or lush symbolism, but with the soul’s passage through states of suffering, insight, and awakening.
Howitt’s belief in the spiritual purpose of art was not confined to traditional religious faith. She was aligned with the more radical spiritual currents of her time—spiritualism, Swedenborgian mysticism, and early forms of Theosophy—all of which viewed the material world as a veil, and the task of the artist as one of unveiling.
Anna Mary Howitt's legacy is that of a seeker—an artist who turned inward to find light, and who believed that art, when made in truth, could elevate the soul and reveal the divine pattern behind human experience. Her work stands as a gentle but enduring testimony to the idea that creativity and spirituality, far from being separate realms, are part of the same sacred unfolding.
