7 Austin Osman Spare Quotes

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"Austin Osman Spare" was an England/English artist and occultism/occultist who worked as both a draughtsman and a painter. Influenced by Symbolism (arts)/symbolism and the artistic decadence of art nouveau, his art was known for its clear use of line, and its depiction of monstrous and sexual imagery. In an occult capacity, he developed idiosyncratic magical techniques including automatic writing, automatic drawing and sigil (magic)/sigilization based on his theories of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious self.

Born into a working-class family in Holborn Viaduct/Snow Hill in London, Spare grew up in Smithfield, London/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 the wider Western esotericism/Western Esoteric Tradition, becoming briefly involved with Aleister Crowley and his A?A?. Developing his own personal occult philosophy, he authored 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.