Addressing what Stephen Spender called the 'shared subject matter of art and literature,' this book explores the celebrated writer's connections with a remarkable constellation of cultural figures.

Over a life spanning the twentieth century, the celebrated writer Stephen Spender came into contact with—and connected—many of the most influential cultural figures of the era. Complementing a constellation of artworks by artists linked by personal friendship, family ties, or spiritual kinship to Spender—from Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud to Arshile Gorky—this publication is addressed to what he termed the ‘shared subject matter’ of art and literature and is replete with archival photos of Spender and his circle.