Austin Osman Spare

>Austin Osman Spare 2005-03-27T02:52:57Z NightMonkey /* External link */ [[Image:Dressing the Wounded during a Gas Attack (Austin O Spare).jpg|thumb|250px|''Dressing the wounded during a gas attack'' by [[Austin Osman Spare|Austin O. Spare]], 1918.]] '''Austin Osman Spare''' ([[December 30]], [[1886]] - [[May 15]], [[1956]]) was an [[England|English]] [[art|artist]] and [[magic (paranormal)|magician]]. He was the son of a [[London]] policeman. As a child, he showed an affinity for art, and he briefly attended an art school. At the age of 13, he left school to become an apprentice to a stained glass maker. 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. His work resembled that of [[Aubrey Beardsley]], but was 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 <i>The Equinox</i>. 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|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 chose not to get involved into the London art scene, but lived a rather secluded life financed by pictures (portraits in particular) he sold for very small sums to friends and neighbors. Spare expressed contempt at the idea of selling his works at higher prices - an option he could easily have had. 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 his death on May 15, 1956. His iconoclasm and aversion to moralism as well as his [[Sigil|sigilization]] served to distinguish his personal style of magic (the "[[Zos Kia Cultus]]") from others, and were influential on the [[Western esoteric tradition]] that later came to be known as [[chaos magic]]. ==External link== *[http://www.banger.com/banger/spare/index.html Austin Osman Spare Archive] *[http://www.fulgur.org Fulgur Limited: Publishers of Austin Osman Spare] *Courtesy of [[Nurse With Wound]]: **[http://brainwashed.com/nww/words/pleasure.html ''THE BOOK OF PLEASURE (SELF-LOVE). THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ECSTASY.''], by Austin Osman Spare **[http://brainwashed.com/nww/words/focus.html ''THE FOCUS OF LIFE''], by Austin Osman Spare **[http://brainwashed.com/nww/words/anathema.html ''ANATHEMA OF ZOS: THE SERMON TO THE HYPOCRITE - An Automatic Writing''], by Austin Osman Spare [[Category:1886 births|Spare, Austin Osman]] [[Category:1956 deaths|Spare, Austin Osman]] [[Category:Magic|Spare, Austin Osman]] [[de:Austin Osman Spare]]