Crowley's arrival in New York on Halloween 1914 marked the beginning of a transformative period in his creative life. While he would later claim his presence in America served as cover for work as a British intelligence agent, the five years he spent in the United States were marked by financial hardship and creative frustration. Yet it was during this period of apparent decline that Crowley would finally emerge as a painter, discovering in visual art a new medium for magical and spiritual expression.

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The first years in America proved difficult. Having depleted his inherited fortune, Crowley struggled to establish himself in New York's literary and artistic circles, though he did manage to secure a position as editor of The International, an avant-garde literary magazine, in 1917. This role, though short-lived, provided crucial connections to New York's artistic community and ultimately led to his first experiments with painting (Kaczynski, 2010, pp. 330-31).

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Crowley's transition to visual art came suddenly, according to his friend William Seabrook, who recalled a pivotal moment in 1918. Arriving at his Greenwich Village apartment at 1 University Place, Crowley announced: "My familiar spirits visited me in the night and commanded me to paint. I have been under the misapprehension that I was a great poet. Clearly, I was mistaken. Paint is my real medium. I am destined to become one of the outstanding artists of any age" (Seabrook, 1923).

His early efforts were, by all accounts, primitive. Seabrook described them as "the most awful smears you can imagine. The figures, arms, legs, torsos, faces are all 'out of drawing' and the primary colours laid on with inconceivable crudity and glare" (Seabrook, 1923). This crude technique may have been influenced by Crowley's extensive experimentation with mescaline, which likely affected his perception of colour. However, what others saw as technical deficiency, Crowley positioned as intentional primitivism, declaring himself a "subconscious impressionist" (The Evening World, 1919).

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This period of artistic development was marked by serious study, despite Crowley's claims of pure automatism. Following disappointing early results, he and Seabrook visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art to study Rembrandt's "Old Woman Cutting Her Nails" (Seabrook, 1923). Crowley spent hours examining the painting's technique, though he expressed frustration at being unable to touch its surface. This study led to refinements in his approach, including mixing colours rather than applying them directly from the tube, and practicing basic drawing skills.

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A crucial development came in January 1919 when Crowley met Leah Hirsig, a Swiss-American schoolteacher from the Bronx who would become both his magical partner and artistic muse. At her suggestion, he painted her as a "Dead Soul," making her the centerpiece of a now-lost three-panel hinged screen. This work caught the attention of Robert Winthrop Chanler, a wealthy artist whose approval provided Crowley with validation and entrée into New York's artistic society (The Evening World, 1919).

Chanler's influence on Crowley extended beyond social connections. Like Crowley, Chanler viewed art through an occult lens, believing that decorative art originated in primitive magic and that ancient caves of sorcerers were the forerunners of modern art studios (Narodny, 1922). This philosophical alignment encouraged Crowley to further develop his theories about the relationship between magic and artistic creation.

By early 1919, Crowley had established himself in a larger studio at 63 Washington Square South, in the area known as "Genius Row." Here, he developed his distinctive style, often painting through the night until noon the following day (The Evening World, 1919). When interviewed by the press, he elaborated on his artistic method: "I stand very close to the canvas and close my eyes. I have no preconceived idea of what I am going to paint. My hand simply moves automatically over the canvas. I don't know how long I work in that subconscious way" (The Evening World, 1919).

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Crowley attempted to mount an exhibition at a major Fifth Avenue gallery but was rejected due to his controversial reputation. He found a more receptive venue at the Liberal Club, though this exhibition too ended in controversy when board members discovered the esoteric symbolism underlying seemingly innocent paintings like "May Morn" (Seabrook, 1923). The exhibition's premature closure presaged the end of Crowley's American period, as he departed for England in December 1919, briefly visiting before settling in Fontainebleau and ultimately establishing his infamous Abbey of Thelema in Cefalù, Sicily (Crowley, Symonds & Grant, 1969).

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The American period, though brief, was crucial in establishing Crowley's artistic practice. His embrace of automatic drawing, primitive technique, and the integration of magical symbolism into seemingly conventional subjects would find fuller expression in his later work at Cefalù. Moreover, his positioning as a "subconscious impressionist" anticipated aspects of surrealism and other modernist movements that would emerge in the following decades (Sutin, 2000).