Live Auction 21031Modern British & Irish Art Day Sale
AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE (1886-1956)
Lot 244

AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE (1886-1956)

Self Portrait

Closed20 October 2022

Price Realised

GBP 35,280

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AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE (1886-1956)
Self Portrait
signed with initials and dated 'AOS 1911' (lower right)
pencil and coloured chalk on buff paper
10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.2 cm.)
Executed in 1911.

Ernest Thesiger, and by descent.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

Specialist note

By 1911, Austin Osman Spare had moved away from the grotesque pen and ink style that made his fame, towards a mature use of pencil and coloured chalk that found expression primarily through portraiture. This self portrait, executed the year of his marriage to the actress Eily Shaw (1888-1938), demonstrates his increasing confidence. Ernest Thesiger, CBE (1879 - 1961) was an English stage and film actor, celebrated for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film, Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

We are very grateful to Robert Ansell for preparing this catalogue entry.