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A Book of Satyrs by Austin Osman Spare Influenced by symbolism and the decadence of art nouveau, Austin Osman Spare became known for his clear use of line and for his inventive faculty in depicting lingering imagery of the grotesque, mystical, and sexual. The following thirteen drawings (lots 63-75) are the original and complete set of illustrations for Spare's second book of drawings, A Book of Satyrs, first published in 1907 in an edition of only 300 copies. In the introduction to A Book of Satyrs James Guthrie writes: ‘Spare continually achieves the unexpected; his pattern is always original; his characteristic line is of fine nervous quality; his types are powerfully visualised. The very subtle irony of his temper is apparent in a hundred whimsical ways - in attitudes, gestures, expressions - too delicate to be more than contributory to the whole impression. This appropriate irony especially fits Spare for satire, and it is here [in A Book of Satyrs] to be seen and felt, for it can neither be disregarded nor forgotten – which words it is well to be able to write of one satirist in our day of curbed enthusiasm and polite art’ (sited in A.R. Naylor (ed.), From the Inferno to Zos: The Writings and Images of Austin Osman Spare, vol. I, Seattle, 1993).

Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956)

A Book of Satyrs: Introduction

Details

Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956)
A Book of Satyrs: Introduction
signed with monogram and dated ‘06’ (lower left)
ink, wash and gouache
15 x 10½ in. (38 x 26.7 cm.)

Special Notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Lot Essay

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