Library and Archive Reading Rooms
View by appointment- Created by
- John Banting 1902–1971
- Recipient
- John Humphrey Spender 1910–2005
- Title
- Letter from John Banting to Humphrey Spender written on the back of a trimmed cyanotype proof print by John Banting
- Date
- [c.1936]
- Format
- Artwork - on paper, print
- Collection
- Tate Archive
- Acquisition
- This collection was presented to the Tate Archive by Humphrey Spender in 1997.
- Reference
- TGA 9717/1/4
Description
A letter written from John Banting at 33 Roehampton Lane to Humprey Spender, referring to the ballet 'Prometheus' [Ninette de Valois, Sadler's Wells, 1936]. Banting made designs for this production and he asks if Spender would be available to take some 'press-worthy' photographs to promote the ballet.
The letter is written on the back of a trimmed proof blueprint, which depicts three large surrealist figures in a room, with heads possibly based on drawings of sheep jawbones. A smaller figure composed of a single line can also be seen in the background. The image was subsequently used on p.10 of Banting's satirical artist's book, 'A blue book of conversation'.