Frederick Carter A.R.E. 1883-1967. "Seated Nude" The rare original etching titled signed and numbered by the artist 7/25. 18 by 23.1 cms. Pl. 19 by 26.2 cms sheet. Provenance: John Gawsworth (King of Redonda).
Carter was a painter and etcher born in Bradford, Yorkshire. He abandoned an early career as a surveyor and engineer to study art in Paris and London, where he learnt his etching techniques under Frank Short. He exhibited at the RA, ROI, NEAC and was elected ARE in 1912. His artistic life before and after the World War I was centred around the Soho area of London, particularly the Dieppe restaurant in Dean Street. Here he became involved with Aleister Crowley and also worked on illustrations for D.H. Lawrence's Apocalypse. He was a friend of Austin Osmond Spare and helped with his theories of automatic drawing. From 1922 he taught etching at Liverpool School of Art towards the end of the 1930's he abandoned printmaking for writing but continued to paint until the late 1950's. His work is in the collections of the BM and V&A. A retrospective exhibition was held at the 20th Century Gallery, Fulham, London, in 1998.
The engravings of Frederick Carter have always been considered to be the artist’s greatest works.
A great believer in the power of the subconscious, Frederick Carter experimented with automatic drawing between 1915 and 1924, along with fellow symbolist Austin Osman Spare. He hoped that this might prove to be a means of releasing suppressed associations and images from the subconscious through which he, akin to the early alchemists, might discover the essence of life itself.
Frederick Carter’s deep interest in alchemy and all aspects of the supernatural and the occult, led him to produce an esoteric symbolism which is apparent throughout his work. Frederick Carter provided little or no explanation himself regarding the significance of his imagery which combines symbols of established religion with those of mysticism and it is likely that he intended the meaning of many of his images to remain shrouded in mystery.