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Francis Spear:
Poster The Insect Play, The Strand Theatre, circa 1926
Framed (ref: 9208)
Lino cut

Tags: Francis Spear lino cut animals design illustration 1.Master Designs Garden Museum Golden Generation RCAGardenMusuem

Provenance: Simon Spear, the artist’s son

TOGETHER WITH A RELATED WORK.

The Insect Play, by  Karel and Josef Capek’s, was also known as The Insect Comedy, The World We Live In, and From Insect Life,was published in its original Czech in 1921.  The play was first performed at the National Theatre in Brno, Czechoslovakia, on March 8, 1922, running for about one hundred nights. The Insect Play made its American debut later in 1922, and its London premiere the following year in May 1923  at the Regent Theatre.  The principal characters are played by insects: a blind Ant, Mr and Mrs Beetle, a chrysalis.   In their depiction of the insect world, the Capeks comment on human vices, morals, and ethics; the impact of the first world war being an obvious catalyst.

For a full account of the play see:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/insect-play

Exhibited: Sanctuary, Artist-Gardeners, 1919-39, Garden Museum, London, 25th February – 5 April, 2020

Literature: Christopher Woodward, Sanctuary: Artist-Gardeners, 1919–1939, published by Liss Llewellyn, 2020