urn:taro:utexas.hrc.00805 Austin Osman Spare: A Preliminary Inventory of His Art Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Finding aid created by Chelsea Weathers Harry Ransom Center, 2013 Finding aid encoded by Mary Alice Harper, 30 October 2013 Finding aid written in English. Collection Summary Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin Spare, Austin Osman, 1886-1956 Austin Osman Spare Art Collection circa 1909-1955 32 items (30 drawings, one painting, one handwritten letter signed) Thirty artworks and one handwritten letter signed by the British artist Austin Osman Spare, and one portrait of Spare by W. W. (William Watson) Peploe. Included are sketches, drawings and one painting dating from circa 1909 to 1955. Subjects include portraits and self- portraits and both “automatic” and figure drawings. English Art Collection AR-00260 Acquisition:

Purchases, 1964-1980

 Access:

Open for research. Please note that a minimum of 24 hours notice is required to pull art materials to the Ransom Center's Reading and Viewing Room. Some materials may be restricted from viewing. To make an appointment or to reserve art materials, please contact the Center's staff at art@hrc.utexas.edu

 Processed by:

Chelsea Weathers, 2013

 Scope and Contents

The collection consists of 30 drawings, one painting, and one handwritten letter signed by or related to Austin Osman Spare (British, 1888-1956). All artworks are by Spare except for one portrait of Spare by W. W. (William Watson) Peploe (British, 1869-1933). Included are Spare’s portraits of Richard Church, Henry Miller, and Igor Stravinsky, as well as three self-portraits. Among the drawings are a number of “automatic” drawings, as well as illustrations for Spare’s The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love): The Psychology of Ecstacy (1913). Dated works are arranged chronologically; undated works are listed by accession number. When possible, titles were transcribed from the items and appear in single quotes; all other information supplied by the cataloger.

The Harry Ransom Center has other works by and related to Spare.

The Frederick Carter Art Collection (AR-00039) contains articles by Spare on “The Grotesque” and “Automatic Drawing,” which were published in Form: A Quarterly of the Arts, a periodical of which Spare was an editor.

The Vernon Hill Art Collection (AR-00363) contains a drawn portrait of Spare by Hill (79.330).

Spare correspondence is located in the following Ransom Center Manuscripts holdings: the Clifford Bax Collection (MS-00271), the Oswell Blakeston Papers (MS-00405), the Alistair Crowley Collection (MS-01002), the John Lane Company Records (MS-02195), and the W. B.Yeats Collection (MS-04619).

Additional Spare materials are also held in the Center’s in the Richard Church Literary File Photography Collection (PH-02725) and in the Center's Library.

 Item List Austin Osman Spare Art Collection 1.15 79.328 'Austin O. Spare' or 'The Contemplation of the White Lily,' full-length portrait by W. W. (William Watson) Peploe (Scottish, 1869-1933), May 1909. Ink on paper board, 19 x 13.2 cm. 1.4 65.457.3 Self-portrait, head only, 1911. Pencil, colored pencil and ink on paper, 38 x 28 cm. 1.10 65.457.9 Handwritten letter signed to H. Stead concerning automatic drawings, 3 July 1931. Page, 22.9 x 17.8 cm. 1.3 73.443.1-16 'Design for Satyros Omnia,' 1945. Pencil and colored pencil on 16 pages of sketchbook, 17.8 x 25.5 cm. 1.7 65.457.4 Self-portrait, head surrounded by faces and automatic drawings, 1951. Pencil on paper, 38.7 x 31.9 cm. 1.1 65.137 'Henry Miller,' 1953. Pastel on paper, 46.3 x 31.5 cm. 1.2 68.60 'Richard Church,' 1953. Pastel on paper, 40.5 x 31 cm. 1.8 65.457.5 Self-portrait, face only, 1953. Black, white, and gray chalk, and black crayon on paper, 41.6 x 33 cm. Painting storage 67.32 'Igor F. Stravinsky,' circa 1955. Tempera and colored chalk on wood panel, 68 x 44.5 cm. 1.5 65.457.1 Reclining nude, first half of 20th century. Pencil on paper, mounted to board, 29.5 x 41.4 cm. 1.6 65.457.2 Satyr, first half of 20th century. Pencil drawing, 37.5 x 23.8 cm. 1.9 65.457.6 One face and various designs on a single sheet for The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love): The Psychology of Ecstasy or Form magazine, first half of 20th century. Ink drawing, 18.6 x 9.3 cm. 1.11 65.457.7 One automatic drawing and various designs on a single sheet for The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love): The Psychology of Ecstasy or Form magazine, first half of 20th century. Ink drawing, 15.1 x 15 cm. 1.11 65.457.8 One automatic drawing and various designs on a single sheet for The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love): The Psychology of Ecstasy or Form magazine, first half of 20th century. Ink drawing, 13.9 x 15.2 cm. 1.12 80.37.1 Automatic drawing, first half of 20th century. Pencil and crayon drawing, 25.5 x 19.2 cm. 1.13 80.37.2 Automatic drawing, first half of 20th century. Pencil and crayon drawing, 25.5 x 19.3 cm. 1.14 80.37.3 Automatic drawing, first half of 20th century. Pencil and crayon drawing, 25.5 x 19.2 cm.