Art, Symbol & Imagination
Life’s Nightmare: A Rehearsal of Despair
Contorted bodies arc across the upper scene above a seated figure and dense curling forms. Printed words down the margin name excess, dissipation, reproach and other states. Spare titles the plate Life’s Nightmare and A Rehearsal of Despair, presenting the bodies as parts of an explicit allegory.
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Citation
Austin Osman Spare. "Life’s Nightmare: A Rehearsal of Despair" [editorial title]. In Earth Inferno, Austin Osman Spare. Undated supplied digital facsimile, undated edition. Source scan leaf 27. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/spare-earth-inferno-lifes-nightmare
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
From Spare’s sequence of drawings and allegorical verse first published in 1905. The complete reproduced page, including its frame, caption and ornamental details, is retained.
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Austin Osman Spare. Life’s Nightmare: A Rehearsal of Despair. Earth Inferno. Scan leaf 27. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/spare-earth-inferno-lifes-nightmare