Austin Osman Spare

The fascinating rise and fall of Austin Osman Spare, who lived and worked in Southwark in the early twentieth century, is charted in a new exhibition.

From 1921 to 1933 he lived at Becket House on the Tabard Gardens Estate.

Austin Osman Spare's choice of dream-like, magical themes, his sometimes disturbing imagery and his other-worldly life and attitude have meant his work has both admirers and detractors.

But he was also a fine and much-admired draughtsman and figurative artist, and left a fascinating visual record of his Southwark neighbours and acquaintances.

Spare rejected much of the art establishment of the time and followed his own path, despite an early promise of fame and fortune.

This made him an outsider in the art world but his life and work continue to inspire new generations of artists, musicians and writers.

The exhibition will feature Spare's work from the Southwark Art Collection and loans from many private and institutional collectors. It will be the largest showcase of his work in a public museum since his death in 1956.