Austin Osman Spare

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Austin Osman Spare.jpg Austin Osman Spare (December 30, 1886 - May 15, 1956) was an English artist and magician.

He was the son of a London policeman. As a child, he showed an affinity for art, and he briefly attended evening classes at Lambeth Art School. At the age of 13, he left school to become an apprentice to a stained glass maker, Powell's of Whitefriars Street. During his teen years, his fascination for the occult grew apace, heavily influencing the work he produced. In May 1904 one of his drawings was exhibited at the annual Royal Academy exhibition in London, generating a storm of publicity for the young artist.

In October 1907 Spare exhibited his drawings at the Bruton Gallery in London. Critics likened his work to that of Aubrey Beardsley, but Spare's images were full of grotesque, sexualized human figures and magical symbols. These elements appealed to avant-garde London intellectuals, and brought him to the attention of Aleister Crowley. Spare became a Probationer of Crowley's order Argenteum Astrum ("Of the Silver Star") in July 1909, but was not initiated as a member, although he contributed four small drawings to Crowley's publication The Equinox. Crowley later characterized Spare as a "Black Brother", meaning that he did not approve of the goals of Spare's magical philosophy.

In 1917, during World War I, Spare was conscripted into the British army, serving as a medical orderly of the Royal Army Medical Corps in London hospitals. He did not see active service, and was commissioned as an official War Artist in 1919. He visited the battlefields of France to record the work of the R.A.M.C.

Although regarded as an artist of considerable talent and good prospects, Spare lived a rather secluded life from the mid 1920s onwards, falling out of step with changing trends and influences in the broader art scene. He sold his unique work for low prices at irregular exhibitions held in his home studio and in South London pubs. Spare expressed contempt at the idea of selling his works at higher prices - an option he could easily have had available to him. He worked very quickly and often finished drawings in minutes.

Spare's artistic and magical publications include Earth Inferno, The Book of Pleasure, The Focus of Life, manuscripts of Logomachy of Zos and Zoetic Grimoire of Zos which remained uncompleted at the time of his death on May 15, 1956. However the Zoetic Grimoire was published by Kenneth Grant in "Zos Speaks" in 1998.

His iconoclasm and aversion to moralism as well as his sigilization served to distinguish his personal style of magic (termed by Kenneth Grant the "Zos Kia Cultus") from others.

[edit]