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
- Date
- °Ú³¦.1930²õ–1940²õ±Õ
- Format
- Document - correspondence
- Collection
- Tate Archive
- Acquisition
- This collection was presented to the Tate Archive by Humphrey Spender in 1997.
- Reference
- TGA 9717/1/29
Description
In this letter, sent from 'Stone House Cottage', John Banting thanks Humphrey Spender for allowing him to stay in his cottage, saying 'it has been superb'. He expresses interest in Spender's work for Mass Observation, and says that Spender's photographs have a cinematic quality and he should try film as well. He remarks, 'I would adore to observe the observers', and asks if Spender can sent him the questionnaires and other pamphlets they have produced.
He continues in the letter to write about his drinking, what he is eating, and then about what he has been reading, as well as remarking on Rudyard Kipling's drawings being somewhat similar to Dali.