An original sketch, pencil with light crayon shading, from the "Valley of Fear" series. Signed by Spare with his initials (1924).
Pencil with crayon tints, on art paper. Approx. 28.5cm x 22cm (11 inches x 8 1/2 inches). Very finely drawn, and signed by Spare with his initials in the lower left corner. A male in a yellow robe, stands next to a seated nude female, whose mask-like face is turned towards the viewer. Both are on a rocky outcrop standing out from a cliff-face. Above them a tree, symbolic perhaps of a double phallus, juts out. There is a simple line drawing of a female head on the reverse. The artwork was completed in 1924 as one of a series of 10 in a sketchbook which Spare titled "The Valley of Fear." The drawings from the sketchbook, along with those from another entitled "Metamorphosis or Unfinished" were subsequently mixed together and published by Fulgur, in 2008 under the sole title "The Valley of Fear." This drawing is reproduced as the third plate in the Fulgur volume (not counting the frontis-piece) although our notes suggest that it was actually the fifth in the original "Valley of Fear" sketchbook. A lovely piece in fine condition, with impeccable provenance. Sadly the need for good provenance is becoming ever more important with Spare sketches, with certain sellers on a major on-line auction site flooding the market with what are generally mercifully-awful forgeries. Obviously this work is published and is guaranteed original, and comes with a certificate of authenticity. Neatly mounted in a double-sided custom-made archival mount (approx. 14 inches x 11.5 inches) which allows both sides to be seen. Fine condition. Item #60876
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