SPARE, Austin Osman.

£7,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Twenty-one autograph letters from the artist Vera Wainwright. A collection of correspondence, including two unpublished letters, documenting a complex relationship in which Wainwright was simultaneously Spare's pupil and a source of support. Ultimately, Wainwright concludes that "you are on the threshold of saint-hood but have not yet crossed it!... There is still a little devil at your coat-tail!". The collection includes seven manuscript poems, three photographs, and two paintings.The poet and artist Vera Wainwright (1893-1967) became close to Spare in the later years of his life, when he was living in reduced circumstances in Brixton. Wainwright was drawn to Spare, telling him in an undated letter that "human relationships are mysterious. With you I have been dynamic because [I am] strongly impelled". The two exchanged letters on art, with Spare offering instruction in his philosophies and spiritual practices: Wainwright references his "automatic" drawings in an undated letter, likely sent in the summer of 1944. Spare's mentorship encouraged Wainwright to produce several landscape paintings, including the two present. She shared his non-commercial attitude, writing on 9 September 1944 that "perhaps I only paint because that makes me happy. I may not have the aspirations of ordinary painter". Correspondence from 1944 refers to Wainwright and Spare's plan to move in together to enable their artistic pursuits. This was not a romantic partnership, with Wainwright suggesting th

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