"The thing that has always interested me is our shared humanity, the emotions and experiences which bind us together."
Ghislaine Howard was born in 1953 in Eccles, Lancashire. Showing early promise as an artist, she took art classes with Harold Riley. She pursued formal art studies, completing a foundation course at Manchester Polytechnic and earning a degree in Fine Art from the University of Newcastle, where she shared a flat with writer Debbie Horsfield.
Exhibitions
Howard's breakthrough came in 1983 with her exhibition "A Shared Experience" at Manchester City Art Gallery. The exhibition, which focused on pregnancy and childbirth, garnered critical acclaim and brought her wider recognition.
In 2008, as part of Liverpool's Capital of Culture celebrations, Howard unveiled "The Empty Tomb," a major new work that was revealed by the Bishop of Liverpool on Easter Sunday. This was followed by "Ghislaine Howard 365" at the Imperial War Museum North, a critically acclaimed exhibition comprising 365 small canvases, each depicting a news event from each day of the year.
Her significant cycle of paintings, The Stations of The Cross / The Captive Figure, has been displayed at both Liverpool Cathedrals and Canterbury Cathedral, part of an ongoing tour of UK cathedral cities. Additionally, her 25-foot high Visitation Altarpiece is housed in the Trinity Chapel at Liverpool Hope University.
In 2013, her "Pregnant Self Portrait" was a central piece in a British Museum exhibition that examined the development of Western art. According to British Museum curator Jill Cook, the drawing was one of the most thought-provoking pieces in an exhibition that included works by Henry Moore, Matisse, and Picasso.
Howard has been featured in numerous publications and television documentaries, including Mischa Scorer's "Degas: An Old Man Mad about Art" (1996) and "Degas and the Dance" (2004), the latter of which won a prestigious international Peabody Award.
On 11 May 2020, Ghislaine Howard opened her collection at Elliot House, 151 Deansgate, Manchester, home to the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce. Howard expressed her honor at exhibiting her work in this iconic building, noting its connection to the inspirational suffragist and educationalist Lydia Becker.
Public Collections
Ghislaine Howard's work is included in several prestigious collections, such as:
The Ghislaine Howard Collection at Elliot House
The Royal Collection
Manchester Art Gallery
Whitworth Art Gallery
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
Salford Museum and Art Gallery
The BBC
Saint Mary's Maternity Unit Manchester
Manchester Metropolitan University
Her Majesty's Prison Service
British Medical Association
The Methodist Modern Art Collection
Liverpool Hope University College
Her work is also featured on Art UK.
