Ghislaine Howard - The Washing of the Feet

John 13:2 – 9, 12- 15

The figures, set against a rich green/blue background, completely dominate the composition. Their gestures and the rhythms of their bodies focus attention on the crucial moment of the narrative. Howard has mixed sand with the paint to create a sculptural surface texture which unifies and heightens the intensity and intimacy of the scene. The importance of the event is conveyed by the classical and monumental style which echoes earlier interpretations of the theme. The shape of the bowl and the warmth of the skin tones suggest Christianity’s Middle Eastern origins. The dress is simple and workman-like; these figures could be from any age and country. The simple, everyday act of washing a guest’s feet before offering hospitality becomes, through the words and actions of Jesus, pregnant with significance.

Commentary based on A Guide to the Methodist Art Collection.

Born: Eccles, Greater Manchester, 1953

Early life and education

Ghislaine Howard was born in Eccles, Greater Manchester. She studied at the Department of Fine Art in Newcastle University from 1972-76.

Life and career

Howard first came to public attention with her ground-breaking exhibition in Manchester City Gallery in 1993, A Shared Experience, concerning pregnancy and birth. This subject was also highlighted in works included in two historically-themed exhibitions. First, her drawing Pregnant Self Portrait July 1987 was placed alongside Ice Age sculptures of pregnant women in the British Museum’s exhibition Ice Age Art/Arrival of the Modern Mind in 2013; then, Pregnant Self Portrait July 1984 featured in the Foundling Museum’s Portraying Pregnancy exhibition of 2020.

Howard’s focus on the experience of women is also shown in an installation in the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, based on Frederick Leighton’s ‘Captive Andromache’, depicting a woman who has lost both husband and son and is now enslaved in a distant land; a timeless story which has a strong contemporary resonance.

Howard has a prominent media profile and was named as Woman of the Year in 2008 for her contribution to art and society.

Howard also employed this power of expression and emotion in her religious paintings. These include several major commissions: the large cycle of paintings The Stations of the Cross/The Captive Figure which was displayed at the two Liverpool Cathedrals and Canterbury Cathedral as well as other venues; her 25 foot high Visitation Altarpiece in the Trinity Chapel in Liverpool Hope University; and the major work The Empty Tomb, produced for Liverpool Anglican Cathedral for Liverpool’s time as European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Howard’s solo exhibitions include: A Shared Experience, Manchester City Art Gallery (arising from a six-month residency in Saint Mary’s Maternity Unit, Manchester) (1993); Encounters, Wendy J. Levy Contemporary Art, Didsbury (2004); The 365 Series, the Imperial War Museum, Manchester (2009); The Ghislaine Howard Collection at Elliot House, Manchester Chamber of Commerce (from May 2020); and Acts of Mercy, St Stephen’s House, Oxford (from September 2023).

Her group exhibitions include: Critic’s Choice, Wendy Beckett, Bruton Street Gallery, London (1992); The Intimate Portrait, Whitworth Gallery, Manchester (2007-09); From Degas to Ghislaine Howard, Gateway Gallery, Shrewsbury (2016); and Drawing the Unspeakable, Towner Gallery, Eastbourne (from October 2024 to April 2025).

Her work is held in many collections including: Manchester City Art Gallery; the Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield; His Majesty’s Prison Service; the British Medical Association; and The Royal Collection.

Artist’s website: ghislainehoward.com

David Buckman, Artists in Britain Since 1945: Volume 1 A to L, Vol. 1 of 2 volumes., (Bristol: Art Dictionaries Ltd, 2006), p. 773.

Seeing the Spiritual: A Guide to the Methodist Modern Art Collection, (Oxford, 2018), p. 60-61