Austin Osman Spare British, 1886-1956

Austin Osman Spare (30 December 1886 – 15 May 1956) was an English artist and occultist[1] who worked as a draughtsman, writer and painter.[2] Influenced by Symbolism and Art Nouveau, his art was known for its clear use of line[a] and its depiction of monstrous and sexual imagery.[3] In an occult capacity, he developed magical techniques including automatic writing, automatic drawing and sigilization based on his theories of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious self.[4]

Born into a working-class family in Snow Hill in London, Spare grew up in Smithfield and then Kennington, taking an early interest in art. Gaining a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art in South Kensington, he trained as a draughtsman, while also taking a personal interest in theosophy and Western esotericism, becoming briefly involved with Aleister Crowley and his A∴A∴. Developing his own personal occult philosophy, he wrote a series of occult grimoires, namely Earth Inferno (1905), The Book of Pleasure (1913) and The Focus of Life (1921). Alongside a string of personal exhibitions, he also achieved much press attention for being the youngest entrant at the 1904 Royal Academy summer exhibition.

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