Isabelle de Steiger, née Lace (28 February 1836 – 1 January 1927), was an English painter,

theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism ...

and writer. She became a member of several

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

societies in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and was a close friend and co-worker of

Anna Kingsford Anna Kingsford (; 16 September 1846 – 22 February 1888), was an English anti-vivisectionist, vegetarian and women's rights campaigner. She was one of the first English women to obtain a degree in medicine, after Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, an ...

Biography

Isabelle Lace was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, the daughter (and one of seven children) of Joshua Lace, a solicitor. She was educated first in Liverpool, then in

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-w ...

. In 1861, she married a Swiss cotton merchant, Rudolf Adolf von Steiger von Riggesberg. The couple divided their time between England and Switzerland, then settled down, for professional reasons, in Egypt, where her husband died of

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

in 1870.Steiger, Isabelle de,
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
'. Isabelle de Steiger returned to England in 1874 and studied art, first at the

Heatherley School of Fine Art The Heatherley School of Fine Art is an independent art school in London. The school was named after Thomas Heatherley who took over as the school's principal from James Mathews Leigh (when it was named "Leigh's"). Founded in 1845, the school ...

, then at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London. Having obtained her degree, she began a career as a professional painter, going on to exhibit at various galleries, such as the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...

in London, and the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

in Liverpool. Her style was strongly influenced by

Lawrence Alma-Tadema Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, (; born Lourens Alma Tadema ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch painter who later settled in the United Kingdom becoming the last officially recognised denizen in 1873. Born in Dronryp, the Netherlands, ...

and his historical paintings, such as ''Cleopatra after the Battle of Actium'' etc. She was also known for her flower painting and book illustrations. She illustrated, for example, the occult magazine ''The Unknown World'' (1894-1895), edited by

A. E. Waite Arthur Edward Waite (2 October 1857 – 19 May 1942) was a British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider–Waite tarot deck (also called the Rider–Waite–Smith o ...

.The Unknown World
(Answers.com). She painted some figures in the Theosphical movement but unfortunately much of her work was destroyed in a fire. She also experienced the prevailing prejudice against women which made it difficult to rent studio space and attend life classes, as well as social obstacles to women having an independent career.Holden, 1983 In the early 1870s, Steiger was drawn towards

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

and in 1878 joined the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century C ...

. She came into contact with

Madame Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 ...

Mabel Collins Mabel Collins (9 September 1851 – 31 March 1927) was a British theosophist and author of over 46 books. Life Collins was born in St Peter Port, Guernsey. She was a writer of popular occult novels, a fashion writer and an anti-vivisection ca ...

and

, the latter being especially esteemed by Steiger and becoming a close friend. Later, after a split within the Theosophical society, she became a member of the Hermetic Society, founded by Kingsford; she was also a member of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

. Steiger became a friend of the alchemist

Mary Anne Atwood Mary Anne Atwood (née South) (1817 – 1910) was an English writer on hermeticism and spiritual alchemy. Life Atwood was born in Dieppe, France but grew up in Gosport, Hampshire. Her father, Thomas South, was a researcher into the history of ...

, and her own writings were also strongly influenced by Alchemy; on Atwood's death, in 1910, she successfully republished Atwood's principal work, ''A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery''. She joined the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ce ...

in 1888, and, after a factional split of the society in 1903, left with A. E. Waite, joining his "Holy Order of the Golden Dawn", despite their disagreements on the subject of Alchemy. She also founded, in 1912, an ''Alchemical Society''. Towards the end of her life she followed the teachings of

Anthroposophy Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers ...

.Pert, Alan.
''Red Cactus: The Life of Anna Kingsford
' (Alan Pert, 2006) p. 80.. Steiger wrote several books on mystical subjects, including a translation of Karl von Eckartshausen's "Cloud upon the Sanctuary", and an autobiography. She also wrote articles which appeared in various journals. She died in

Rock Ferry Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the 2 ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

in January 1927.

Bibliography

Books by Steiger: * ''On a Gold Basis: A Treatise on Mysticism '', (London: Philip Wellby. 1907). * ''Superhumanity'', 1916. * ''Memorabilia: reminiscences of a woman artist and writer'' (London : Rider & Co., 1927). Translated or edited by Steiger: * Karl von Eckartshausen,
The Cloud upon the Sanctuary
', 1896. (Réédition par Hays Ltd, 2003. *

,
A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery: With a Dissertation on the More Celebrated of the Alchemical Philosophers Being an Attempt Towards the Recovery of the Ancient Experiment of Nature
' 1910. (New edition by Kessinger Publishing, 1999).

References

*Holden, Pat. ''Women's religious experience'' (Taylor & Francis, 1983) pp. 41–43.

External links

Short biography of Isabelle Steiger and a view of her art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiger, Isabelle de 1836 births 1927 deaths 19th-century alchemists 19th-century English women artists 19th-century English painters 20th-century alchemists 20th-century English women artists 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from Liverpool English alchemists English illustrators English occultists English spiritual writers English Theosophists English women painters Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Parapsychologists

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links