W.H. Auden; Christopher Isherwood; Sir Stephen Harold Spender

Sittersback to top

• Wystan Hugh ('W.H.') Auden (1907-1973), Poet. Sitter associated with 41 portraits.
• Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (1904-1986), Novelist. Sitter in 28 portraits.
• Sir Stephen Harold Spender (1909-1995), Poet and critic. Sitter associated with 51 portraits.

Artistback to top

• Howard Coster (1885-1959), Photographer. Artist associated with 9285 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This group portrait, taken in Howard Coster's London studio, was one of fifteen poses showing Auden and his fellow writers Isherwood and Spender. Auden had known Isherwood since childhood and met Spender, who had published his first set of poems, at Oxford. At this time Auden and Isherwood were collaborating on several works, including the plays The Ascent of F6 and On the Frontier. Earlier in 1937, Auden had spent two months in Valencia working for the Spanish republic in the civil war. His experiences inspired the propagandist poem 'Spain':

Linked publicationsback to top

• Pepper, Terence; Strong, Arthur, Howard Coster's Celebrity Portraits, 1985 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 28 June - 8 September 1985), p. 45
• Pepper, Terence; Strong, Arthur, Howard Coster's Celebrity Portraits, 1985 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 28 June - 8 September 1985), p. 45