Madge Gill

Born 1882 in Walthamstow, London ~ Died 1961 in Upton Park, London

Madge Gill was nearly forty years old when she first experienced a compulsive urge to create art under the guidance of spirits. It became an activity that consumed her for the rest of her life and resulted in an outpouring that ranged from large scale drawings on calico to thousands of ink drawings on the humble postcard, as well as an array of vibrant textile works. The works consisted of myriad female faces with mesmerising eyes surrounded by rhythmic configurations of geometrical and botanical forms. These recurring motifs, which on closer inspection revealed symbols and words, often with astrological and biblical references, hinted at layers of complexity within the work. 

Madge was a proponent of mediumistic art, a phenomenon that began in the 1850s and can be defined as art created by a person, referred to as a medium, under the influence of, or in collaboration with, discarnate entities and executed whilst in some form of altered state of consciousness, ranging from passive contemplation to full somnambulistic trance. It is a phenomenon that emerged with the onset of Modern Spiritualism, a popular movement that swept through America and large parts of Europe during the mid 19th Century, proclaiming that communication between the material realm and the spirit world was possible. 

Madge Gill entered the world as Maud Eades and was born illegitimately in 1882 in Walthamstow. The identity of her father was a shameful secret and her mother Emma  was deemed too feeble to be a good mother. She abandoned her only child and returned to the family home in London’s affluent West End. A family photograph shows that Madge did have some contact with her birth family over the nine years she spent in foster care, but in 1891 she was placed in a Dr Barnardo’s orphanage. In 1896, at age 14 she was sent to Canada as part of a Barnardos project to help unprivileged children. It was not a pleasant experience and at the first opportunity, in 1901, Madge returned to England where she earned her keep as a blouse machinist and as a nurse at her local hospital.

She rekindled her relationship with her birth family and in particular her aunt, Kate Gill. Kate had two sons, Bert and Tom, who were both clerks in the financial sector. Madge formed a close relationship with the youngest son, Tom, and became pregnant with Laurie, who was born out of wedlock shortly before the couple married on New Year’s Day in 1907. A second son, Reggie, was born in 1910 followed by Leonard, known as Bob, in 1913. All three births had complications, leaving Madge weak and bedridden for several weeks. She also suffered several miscarriages. 

The advent of the first world war brought even more hardship, but when Tom returned unscathed they must have thought their lives would return to normal. Sadly, tragedy struck when her son Reggie, aged 8, perished on October 27th 1918 during the flu pandemic. It was a tremendous loss for Madge, from which she never recovered. This dire situation was made worse when just over a year later her left eye had to be removed after a cancer diagnosis. Concern for her welfare grew considerably when on March 3rd 1920 she suddenly began to sing Home Sweet Home at the top of her voice and, feeling inspired, led her two boys into the garden where she saw a vision of Christ on a cross with angels in the sky. 

Illness and traumatic experiences such as war and bereavement are all common gateways for developing a heightened sensitivity to spiritual awareness and Madge experienced all of these hardships in a short timeframe. This culminated in her life-changing visionary experience on that day in Spring, after which she felt she was guided by an unseen force. At first Madge identified this force as a High Priest from Babylon, and subsequently as a feminine entity called Myrninerest. It is suggested that Myrninerest stands for ‘my inner rest’ or ‘my innerest’ indicating that it is a source of comfort for Madge or possibly a creative force that originates from another realm of consciousness deep within her. An alternative interpretation can be found in her drawings. One is inscribed ‘My-rn-iner-est’ with ‘Children of the East’ written on the reverse and another contains the words ‘mine people of the east – Myrninerest’ hinting that, like the High Priest, Myrninerest is connected to ancient eastern times, with a prominent association with children. After the traumatic experiences Madge endured this would certainly make sense. 

Madge felt honoured to have been bestowed with this special gift of spirit communication. It gave her purpose and she wholeheartedly embraced her strange new life. Of utmost importance to Madge was her belief that when her enigmatic artworks were deciphered they would reveal the secrets of the Garden of Eden and offer a key to the world’s progress. 

In 1921 Madge nearly died after giving birth to a stillborn girl. It was a life-shattering blow that left Madge unable to cope. Vehemently refusing treatment in an asylum, Madge was fortunate to secure a place under the superb care of Dr Helen Boyle, who accepted Madge as an inpatient in January 1922 at her Lady Chichester Hospital for Women and Children in the seaside resort of Hove, a pioneering establishment formed in 1905 to specialise in the early treatment of nervous disorders. Madge responded well to the combination of rest, physical exercise, creative activities and invigorating sea air. During this time she did not curtail her spiritual activities. She continued to draw and write automatically, she switched to speaking in strange languages whenever it was requested, and happily gave character readings to the other patients. After three months, Madge returned to London and lived with her extended family where spiritualistic and astrological practice became the norm.

Unsurprisingly, the allure of communicating with other planets had been a subject for mediumistic artists since the beginning of the movement and Madge, in her inimitable style, created a supramundane view of the planet, consisting of abstract forms with embedded symbols and glyphs. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s Madge’s art positively brimmed with astrological references, as evidenced by titles such as Myrninerest Mars, Astralasia and Cosmic Cavalcade. With incredible stamina she worked for hours each day creating works so vast that it was impossible to see them in their entirety in her small house. In 1932 this opportunity arose when the Whitechapel Gallery opened its East End Academy annual exhibition. Encouraged by her family, Madge became a regular participant until 1947. It was the first time the public and mainstream artworld discovered what an incredible artist she was, stunned by her shimmering kaleidoscopic tapestries and epic calico drawings that dominated the gallery wall space and were often the star attraction, garnering many favourable press reviews. In May 1937 the popular occult magazine, Prediction, described her as the ‘most noteworthy practitioner in London’.

Madge continued to work throughout the war and last exhibited in 1947, after which she slipped away from public view and continued her artmaking in relative obscurity. Beseeched by ill health, she completed her last drawing in 1958. She had never felt comfortable selling her work, believing it was a gift from the other side and not hers to sell, and when she died on 28th January 1961 at the age of 79,  forty years of her creative output was found bundled in the loft and any other available nook and cranny. In 1963, her only surviving child Laurie donated hundreds of his mother’s artworks to what is now the Newham Council. The remaining artworks filtered through to the commercial galleries and, after a show in 1968 at The Grosvenor Gallery called The Guided Hand, they came to the attention of Jean Dubuffet who acquired over one hundred examples for his renowned Collection de l’Art Brut.

Selected solo and group exhibitions:

2025 Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur ~ Wallace Collection, London
2024 Strangers Everywhere ~Venice Biennale
2024 Drawing the Unspeakable ~ Towner Eastbourne
2023  Josefa Tolrà / Madge Gill Visionary Women ~ MNAC, Barcelona
2023 Mediumistic Women ~ Pompidou Centre
2022 Creative Spirits ~ The College of Psychic Studies, London
2019 Floral Fantasies between Symbolism & Outsider Art ~ Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen
2019 Madge Gill by Myrninerest ~ William Morris Gallery, London
2013 Madge Gill: Medium and Visionary ~ Orleans House Gallery
2005 L’Art Spirite ~Collection de L’Art Brut, Lausanne
1999 Art Spirite Mediumnique Visionnaire: Messages D’Outre-Monde ~ Halle Saint Pierre, Paris
1992 Parallel Visions ~ LACMA, USA
1979 Outsiders ~ Hayward Gallery, London
1968 The Guided Hand ~ Grosvenor Gallery, London
1942 Artists Aid Russia ~ Wallace Collection, London
1932-47 East End Academy Exhibitions ~ Whitechapel Gallery, London

For more information on exhibitions and the life and art of Madge Gill visit our website devoted to the artist: madgegill.com