A Triangle of Art: The Relationship between Aleister Crowley, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Ratan Devī

Abstract

This article offers an historical reexamination of the triangular relationship between the occultist and poet Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), the scholar and art historian Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (Āṉanta Kumāracuvāmi, 1877–1947), and the artist and singer Ratan Devī Coomaraswamy (or “Ratan Devi,” alias Alice Ethel Richardson, 1889–1958). The article first covers each angle of their relationships, with special attention to their approach towards religious art and especially Śaiva (an)iconography where relevant. It then treats a heated, racially charged exchange that the disintegration of this love triangle evoked, and considers how a Thelema-specific idea of “phallic worship” can be found at the neglected margins of Indological art history. The main argument of the article is to show that understanding intimate relationships both within and outside of conventional gender binaries or orientations in twentieth-century worlds of art history can help reveal tension points that endure even in fields not immediately related to a given movement, in this case the Thelemic current. The article accordingly seeks to provide new information about this specific triangular relationship and its relevance to scholars working on various branches of esotericism and its intersection with yoga, Tantra, and South Asia more broadly.