Details
Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956)
KIA (self portrait)
signed with initials and dated 'AOS '04' (lower left); inscribed 'KIA' (lower centre); inscribed again 'ONE' (lower right)
pencil and ink
9¾ x 7⅞ in. (24.8 x 20 cm.)
Special notice
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Lot Essay

The present work is probably an unused vignette for Austin Osman Spare's first book, Earth:Inferno, published in 1905. Influenced heavily by Dante's Inferno, it was conceived as an anti-establishment reaction to the publicity surrounding Spare's inclusion in the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1904. 'Kia' was Spare's term for the metaphysical essence of the 'Self', the hidden subconscious symbolised here by the blindfolded figure reflecting Spare's profile in a mirror. The vulture and skull reveal Spare's preoccupation with death as a means of transformation.

We are very grateful to Robert Ansell for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry, and those for lots 36, 39, 56, 63 and 66.

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