Stanley Spencer:Prophet of Love and Work
21st March - 2nd November 2008
Spencer was
one of the most original artists of the twentieth century, who devised
a highly imaginative personal iconography. A number of the works on show
illustrate the dual theme of love and work in Spencer's oeuvre. Love is
redemptive, and beyond this, Spencer wished to redeem everything associated
with him, however unlikely the subject. In writing to Gwen Raverat in
1932 of his early ideas for 'The Dustman' he commented, 'Dustbins are
looking up…It appears that I became so enamoured of the dustman that
I wanted him to be transported to heaven while in the execution of his
duty.' On a more autobiographical note, also pertinent to the theme are
the two wives, a mistress and the maid, key women in Spencer's life, who
feature in the selection of Scrapbook drawings from the Astor Collection.
Press coverage of Spencer's dispute and consequent resignation from the Royal Academy in 1935 was widespread. It is represented here by two of the five paintings in question: one rejected by the hanging committee, 'The Dustman' (or 'The Lovers'), and another accepted, 'The Scarecrow, Cookham'.
We are also exhibiting our delightful drawings for the Chatto & Windus Almanack, 1927, the only book Spencer illustrated. In 1983 the publishers reissued the Almanack: the present display suggests it would be welcome if they were to do so again.
'The Fairy on the Waterlily Leaf' is on show after its return from the exhibition 'British Vision: Observation and Imagination in British Art 1750-1950' at the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent.
We are greatly indebted to the generosity of those who have lent important pictures to the exhibition, from both public and private collections: 'The Garage', 'The Blacksmith's Yard, Cookham' and 'The Dustman' (or 'The Lovers'). We are extremely grateful to them. Our thanks are also due to those who continue to support the gallery, whether by outright gifts of works or long-term loan.
All works in the exhibition are by Sir Stanley Spencer RA
1 Self-Portrait, 1923
Oil on canvas
Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) was honest and uncompromising in recording
the changes in his features. In this second, painted, self-portrait he
still has a noticeably youthful appearance. Painted in rich, warm colours,
it sold for 20 guineas in his successful Goupil Gallery exhibition of
1927, which helped to confirm his reputation. In addition to his formal
self-portraits, he appeared in many of his subject pictures, often as
a small, boyish figure, along with people who played a role in his real
or imaginative life.
Barbara Karmel Bequest, 1995 <br>
2 The Betrayal, 1914
Oil on canvas
Two soldiers arrest Jesus in a setting based on the adjoining back gardens
of the Spencer home 'Fernlea', and 'The Nest', in Cookham High Street.
The unusual naked figure fleeing the scene is recorded in Mark's Gospel:
'And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast
about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: And he left
the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.' On the left, in an earlier
incident, Simon Peter cuts off the ear of the High Priest's servant. The
pusillanimous disciples pause by the oast-houses to peep over a wall at
their Master. 'The Betrayal' belongs to the fine series of early works
painted in a mood of great confidence: 'When I left the Slade and went
back to Cookham I entered a kind of earthly paradise. Everything seemed
fresh and to belong to the morning…'
Acquired with assistance from the MGC/V&A Fund, 1984
3 View from Cookham Bridge, 1936
Oil on canvas
Painted many years before 'Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta' (no. 9),
but from a similarly elevated viewpoint, Spencer showed the view from
the other side of the bridge, this time as far as the horizon, including
Turk's boatyard and Holy Trinity church, which had already featured in
major works. As in all Spencer's best landscapes, this quintessential
view of the riverside at Cookham is provided with an abundance of naturalistic
detail.
Accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to
the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham, 2003
4 Domestic Scenes: At the Chest of Drawers, 1936
Oil on canvas
One of the 'Domestic Scenes' series of 1935-6, painted after his resignation
from the Royal Academy (see 'The Dustman', no. 5). Deliberately less controversial,
the 'Domestic Scenes' were exhibited with some critical and commercial
success in his one-man exhibition at Tooth's in 1936. The series featured
an idealised version of married life with his first wife Hilda, as well
as his childhood. As he wrote, 'I love painting this kind of picture,
and I shall be very sad to part with any of them.' This is linked to the
'Marriage at Cana' series for the 'Church House' (see no. 6). Two guests,
Stanley and Hilda, their figures interlocked in a shallow space, choose
clothes to wear to the wedding feast. Collars spill out of a drawer and
a hot water bottle nestles in the unmade bed. Ironically Spencer decided
to celebrate the joys of marriage at a time his own actions were leading
to his divorce. He presented himself as a diminutive man dominated by
an exaggeratedly large woman, a recurring theme at the time.
Lent by a private collector
5 The Dustman (or The Lovers), 1934
Oil on canvas
Like 'Sarah Tubb and the Heavenly Visitors' (no. 6), this is set in Cookham
and belongs to Spencer's 'Last Day' series. Recently resurrected dustmen
are reunited with their wives. As Spencer explained, '…the glorifying
and magnifying of a dustman. The joy of his bliss is spiritual in his
union with his wife who carries him in her arms and experiences the bliss
of union with his corduroy trousers…They are gazed at by other reuniting
wives of old labourers …[who] are in ecstasy at the contemplation
that they are reuniting and are about to enter their homes.' Spencer himself
offers up a teapot: 'nothing I love is rubbish and so I resurrect the
teapot, and the empty jam tin…' and the cabbage leaves. With a feeling
of sacramental awe he likened these humble objects to the mystery of the
Trinity. Interested in rubbish from boyhood, before refuse collection
was instituted in Cookham, Spencer noted, 'what is rubbish to some people
is not rubbish to me. And when I see things thrown away I am all eyes
to know what it is.' 'The Dustman' was one of two pictures rejected by
the Royal Academy in 1935, when 'The Scarecrow, Cookham' (no. 11) and
two other works were accepted; Spencer's consequent resignation from the
RA sparked a controversy in the press, not least in reviewing the RA's
attitude to contemporary art. The pictures attracted more favourable reviews
when they were cannily shown by Spencer's dealer Dudley Tooth.
Lent by the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear Museums)
6 Sarah Tubb and the Heavenly Visitors, 1933
Oil on canvas
In 1910 the tail of Halley's comet created an exceptional sunset which
so frightened 'Granny' Tubb that she feared the end of the world had come
and knelt by her gate in Cookham High Street to pray. Not recalling her
features, Spencer replaced them with those of her daughter Sarah. She
is comforted by heavenly visitors who present her with 'all those things
which she loved'. These include a postcard of Cookham church held by Spencer's
cousin Annie Slack, whose shop, seen in the picture, was in the cottages
now replaced by the Peking Inn. On the left a grocer, depicted with a
gleam of humour and loosely based on Spencer's cousin Willie Hatch, shares
in 'the peaceful atmosphere'. As Spencer explained to his dealer Dudley
Tooth, he disliked 'the idea of alarm' and instead the picture became
'a sort of apotheosis of the old lady'.
The picture was designed for Spencer's projected 'Church House', planned
as a sequel to the Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere (now National Trust),
which commemorates his military service in the First World War. The 'Church
House' was to express his feelings on love and to celebrate Cookham as
a village in heaven. It was never built, but he produced ever-expanding
schemes of pictures for it from 1932 until his death in 1959. 'Sarah Tubb'
was probably intended for a Pentecost series in which angels and saints
visit Cookham performing various acts of benevolence; this was subsumed
into the overall theme of the 'Last Day' (a variation on the 'Last Judgement',
the general resurrection of the dead at the second coming of Christ).
Thus the old woman is seen in her newly resurrected state in a Cookham
transformed into heaven.
Barbara Karmel Bequest, 1995
7 The Garage, 1929
Oil on canvas
The first of Spencer's industrial subjects, this belongs to the Empire
Marketing Board series, painted in a seven week break from his work on
the Sandham Memorial Chapel. Responsible for colonial trade, the Empire
Marketing Board commissioned a series of posters on the theme of 'Industry
and Peace'. The scheme evolved into the five panels of a pentaptych, with
'The Garage' as the right outer picture, although posters were never actually
published. The other panels, loosely related to the official theme, are
entitled 'The Art Class', 'The Hat Stand', 'The Anthracite Stove' and
'Cutting the Cloth'; Spencer envisaged them 'as a long sort of room' with
'people from a variety of callings, trades and professions.' His purchase
of a car in 1929 (a fairly brief episode and the source of some acrimony
between himself and his wife Hilda as to their life style) probably led
to his choice of a garage 'in which can be seen the bonnet of a car being
lifted, two men putting a tyre on a wheel and a man sorting out old tyres…'.
A mechanic employs a measure, while other people read maps or carry inner
tubes. His relish of geometric shapes and tubiform figures is seen to
magnificent effect.
Lent by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation
8 Girls Returning from a Bathe, 1936
Oil on canvas
This work will be shown in the November 2008 exhibition.
9 Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta, 1952-9
Oil and pencil on canvas
Spencer did not live to complete this last major work, which he planned
as the central picture in the river aisle of his 'Church House'. In a
natural link between Cookham and religion, Christ preaches at the regatta
the artist recalled from his boyhood. Sitting in the centre in a basket
chair in the old horse ferry barge, by the Ferry Hotel near Cookham bridge,
Christ preaches to the assembled villagers. Mr Brooks the ferryman, in
centre foreground, brandishes an impressive array of boating equipment.
Dressed in holiday outfits the crowd sport the Chinese lanterns which
illuminated the boats in the evening. Class distinctions between the people
in boats and those who had to make do on the bank are nicely maintained.
The luxury of a punt, unknown in the Spencer family, seemed to the artist
'an unattainable Eden'. Spencer wrote in a letter of the contrast between
Christ and 'the stalwart, prosperous, white-trousered proprietor of the
Hotel' surveying the profitable scene from his lawn. Sixty chalk drawings
made in 1952 form the basis of the present picture, which displays Spencer's
skill in composing complex figure subjects. The studies were transferred
to canvas to create an outline drawing of great beauty. As the partially
completed picture shows, Spencer painted one area before starting the
next. He worked with his usual small brushes, his nose almost touching
the paint.
Lent by a private collector
10 The Blacksmith's Yard, Cookham, 1932
Oil on canvas
This was one of the first pictures Spencer painted after his return to
Cookham from Burghclere in January 1932. For this unusual choice of subject,
he employed his landscape technique of empirical observation, delineating
every detail with a heightened realism. The warm colours and varied textures
are applied to brickwork and gate, as well as the objects in the yard
from bicycle wheels to stool, bucket and grate. He was to celebrate the
properties of metal again in 'The Scrapheap' and his 'Shipbuilding on
the Clyde' series. The blacksmith's forge at the top end of the village
held an emotional resonance for him. On his return from the First World
War he wrote of walking over the Moor knowing that soon he would be hearing
the blacksmith's anvil, a sound he had recalled and written about when
abroad on active service. At the time he painted this view, the forge
and adjoining yard belonged to the blacksmith and master farrier, Thomas
Emmett, whose work is still in evidence around the village.
Lent by a private collector
11 The Scarecrow, Cookham, 1934
Oil on canvas
In 1935 the Royal Academy's hanging committee rejected two of Spencer's
more controversial pictures for the Summer Exhibition, but hung three
works, including this painting. As a result, Spencer resigned as an ARA
and did not rejoin the Royal Academy until 1950 when he was elected RA.
The scarecrow stood in a plot next to 'Rowborough', with a view down to
the village. Spencer recalled, 'Left and deserted as it was it seemed
daily to become more a part of its surroundings…In the evening he
faded into the gloaming like a Cheshire cat.'
Lent by a private collector
12 Portrait of Eric Williams, MC, 1954
Oil on canvas
At this late stage in his career Spencer was in demand as a portraitist.
Eric Williams was famous for his wartime exploits in the RAF when as a
prisoner of war in the notorious Stalag Luft 3 he planned a daring escape,
digging a tunnel and using a vaulting horse to cover the debris in the
exercise yard. This led to the so-called 'Wooden Horse' escape, which
featured in his book and a film of the same name. The original commission
was for a pencil sketch but Spencer was dissatisfied with it and, for
the same fee, painted this oil instead. It took about a fortnight: most
time was spent on the stitches of the sitter's sweater.
Accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to
the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham, 2007
13 The Last Supper, 1920
Oil on canvas
The best known of the splendid series of religious pictures Spencer painted
during his year's stay with the Slessers, it was bought by them for £150
and installed in their private chapel in the boat-house. Christ sits before
the wall of the grain bin in a Cookham malt-house, while John rests against
him at the dramatic moment of the breaking of the bread, when Jesus said,
'Take, eat; this is my body'. The other disciples are ranged along the
sides of a plain table their limbs forming a strongly marked pattern.
In the biblical account, Jesus instituted the Eucharist in an upper room
in Jerusalem during his final meal with his disciples. Spencer was pleased
with the feeling of seclusion surrounding the sacred event and the unusual
quality of light from the low window. The uncluttered architectural setting
and substantial rounded figures are clearly reminiscent of Giotto (c1267-1337),
one of his favourite painters, whose work he studied in a sixpenny Gowans
& Gray volume and in Ruskin's 'Giotto and his Works in Padua'.
Acquired by public subscription, 1962
14 Roy, c1907
Pen and ink
Drawn before he entered the Slade, Spencer used pen and ink, a favourite
medium for his early drawings. Born in Cookham in 1902, Roy Lacey is thought
to be a son of the Laceys who kept the boatyard by the bridge, later owned
by Turk (see nos 3 & 41). Roy leans over the back of a pew in the
village church of Holy Trinity; with his retentive visual memory it was
not unknown for Spencer to return to a motif years later, so that 'In
Church', 1958, contains a similar figure.
Acquired with assistance from the MGC/V&A Fund and the NACF, 1993
15 Ecstasy in a Wesleyan Chapel, c1937
Pencil
In 1942 Spencer wrote of his youthful attendance and love of the gentle
homely atmosphere in the Wesleyan Chapel in Cookham, now the Stanley Spencer
Gallery. When people felt 'Entirely Sanctified' they would 'flop down'
on 'that sacred piece of ground' that 'counted' for 'coming to the Lord'.
'It seemed to be the take off place for their Methodist heaven.' This
'sort of spiritual apotheosis of a grocer' is seen in the central figure
with face uplifted. On the left is a steward (who conducted part of the
service) in a kitchen chair in a 'Guy Fawkes attitude with beard'. Spencer's
idea was never painted, but it incorporated children on the right 'safe
& cosy in the arms of Jesus'. Further left he planned 'pews with us
in them' and figures on the right were to include Wesleyan souls being
carried off to glory.
Presented by the Friends of the Stanley Spencer Gallery, 2007
16 Portrait of Marjorie Metz, 1958
Oil on canvas
Marjorie and Philip Metz were friends of Spencer for his last fifteen
years; she later became Chairman of the Friends of the Stanley Spencer
Gallery. The proposal for the portrait came from the artist, who arrived
in the sitter's home with a roll of canvas, which he cut to size on the
kitchen floor. The twenty-one sittings each lasted five to six hours.
Behind her are ceramic figures and a Chinese vase full of flowers, one
of which wilted during sittings. Spencer would not allow it to be removed,
explaining, 'That's life'.
Bequeathed by Philip Metz, 1983
17 Portrait of Mr and Mrs Baggett, 1956-7
Oil on canvas
Commissioned as a single portrait of either sitter, Spencer chose instead
to paint them together with startling immediacy in their Highgate dining
room, with its view of the churchyard and Highgate School. He rejected
a patterned dress for Mrs Baggett, as the time taken to paint it would
increase the cost of the picture.
Bequeathed by Mrs M K Baggett, 1993
18 Cookham from Englefield, 1948
Oil on canvas
Later a Founder Member and Chairman of the Trustees of the Stanley Spencer
Gallery, Gerard Shiel moved to Englefield House in 1940 and formed a collection
of Spencer's work, which included five commissioned paintings of his house
and garden. The men established another bond through their memories of
service in Salonika during the First World War.
Lent by a private collector
19 Englefield House, Cookham, 1951
Oil on canvas
Spencer noted that he painted this third Englefield picture in the afternoons
and evenings of July and August 1951.
Lent by a private collector
20 Wisteria at Englefield, 1954
Oil on canvas
Spencer spent five weeks on this fourth picture in the Englefield series,
which are among his most painstakingly realistic late landscapes.
Lent by a private collector
21 Lilac and Clematis at Englefield, 1955
Oil on canvas
Originally added to the house as a billiard room, this part of the building
became the picture gallery in which Gerard Shiel hung his Spencer collection.
He particularly wished the artist to emphasise the colour of the bricks,
clematis and rock garden.
Lent by a private collector
22 The Fairy on the Waterlily Leaf, 1910
Pen and ink
Spencer was a student at the Slade when a Miss White of Bourne End commissioned
him to illustrate her story of the love of a prince for a fairy. The precision
and detail are reminiscent of Pre-Raphaelitism and the best English book
illustration. The figures were based on his cousin Dorothy Wooster, the
butcher's daughter, and Edmunds, a professional model at the Slade, who
appear by a sandy bank of the Thames where the Spencer children had played.
Dorothy later married Eddie Remington (see 'The Garage Proprietor', no.
24). In one of the artist's many later inventories of his works, he listed
it as 'Girl standing on water and boy with mandolin on bank', 1910. Rejected
by Miss White who thought the girl too hefty, he gave the drawing as a
wedding present to Ruth Lowy, later Lady Gollancz, in 1919.
Bequeathed by Ruth, Lady Gollancz, 1973
23 The Chemist, 1931
Pencil
The eccentric David Pryce-Jones ran the village chemist's shop opposite
this building. Before going to Odney in pyjamas and dressing gown to swim,
he took delivery of his newspaper from his bedroom window by lowering
a string, to which one paperboy attached a malodorous kipper rather than
the expected paper.
Presented by Mr G G Shiel, 1962
24 The Garage Proprietor, 1931
Pencil
This is thought to be a portrait of Eddie Remington, a former pilot with
the Royal Flying Corps, who opened a garage in Cookham in the 1920s. He
raced GN Frasher Nash cars, practising up and down the High Street.
Presented by Bronwen Astor, 1968
25 Study for 'Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta': Sailor, c1952
Chalk
The sailor holding a Union Jack may be an early idea for the bowsprit
of the pleasure steamer, the 'May Queen', in the foreground of the picture
(no. 9).
Lent by a private collector
26 Study for 'Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta': Christ Preaching
from the Horse Ferry Barge, c1952
Pencil
In this study for the central section of 'Christ Preaching at Cookham
Regatta', Christ leans forward, impelled by the urgency of his message
to the village. Spencer's initial idea stemmed from Christ's preaching
from Simon's boat on the lake of Gennesaret to avoid the press of people
on the bank, but as he wrote, it became involved with Cookham Regatta,
and '…after that it becomes my story, which is Christ in this world
and expressing his love for it.' In the picture, Christ and the disciples
sport smart straw boaters, either wearing them or resting them on their
laps. As a child Spencer had been taken to Cookham bridge to see his brother
Will in the barge, performing in the regatta's 'Grand Evening Concerts'.
Lent by a private collector
Nos 27-35: Scrapbook Drawings from the Astor Collection
In 1939 Spencer began a series of pencil drawings in children's scrapbooks
which he kept for reference for the rest of his career. He regarded the
drawings as independent compositions, but he also made a number of paintings
from them. The subjects are largely imaginative re-creations of events
in his private life, in which he frequently appears. He hoped they would
provide material for a 'Last Day' series in his 'Church House'. Spencer
wrote of the drawings: 'In each of these drawings I approach heaven through
what I find on earth…All ordinary acts such as the sewing on of a
button are religious things and a part of perfection…'
Lent by a private collector
27 Family Group
Volume 1, 1939-43 (no.19)
A protective rhythm encircles the family, as Hilda guides a small daughter
to pat the dog which Stanley holds on a lead. Spencer's first wife, the
artist Hilda Carline, came from a family of painters. After attending
Tudor-Hart's School of Art in Hampstead, she served in the Women's Land
Army in the Great War and then like Stanley trained at the Slade. Despite
difficulties within the marriage, Hilda's was the key role in his emotional
life, as much of his work showed. They corresponded regularly, and he
continued writing to her even after their divorce in 1937 and her death
in 1950. These letters could be over a hundred pages long. As he wrote,
'You still are to me the most revealing person of true essential joy I
know.' Spencer's 'Church House' scheme, never realised, underwent frequent
modification, but it evolved to include 'chapels' dedicated to Hilda,
Elsie, Patricia and Daphne.
28 Me and Hilda, Downshire Hill
Volume 2, 1943-4 (no.74)
In Volume 2, Spencer commented on works which include this drawing and
'Me and Hilda, Pilgrim's Lane' (also on loan to the Stanley Spencer Gallery):
'To me the Elsie series & the late in book you & me series of
four are very important items in the book.' The 'you & me' drawings
were studies for pictures in his Hilda 'chapel' in the 'Church House'.
From this drawing he commenced an unfinished painting, which hung on his
wall at Cookham until his death, writing to Hilda (who had died in 1950)
on 3 May 1959, 'Dear duckie, I am so much wanting to write to you as always.
I am beginning the painting of you & I returning to 47, Downshire
Hill from a walk on the Heath.' Behind them is the church of St John and
the two roads leading to Hampstead Heath. Stanley and Hilda are almost
at the front gate of 47 Downshire Hill, the home of the Carline family
for many years. Hilda's features are distorted, but in other drawings
she is shown more correctly as a handsome woman.
29 Drawing Elsie
Volume 2, 1943-4 (no. 57)
A larger, more detailed version of a tiny sketch in Volume 1, this was
designed for his projected 'Church House', as a panel in the 'Servants
Hall' scheme which later became the Elsie 'chapel'. In 1928 Elsie Munday
came for some years to work as a maid for the Spencers at Burghclere (the
setting for this drawing), as well as at Cookham and Hampstead. She is
shown in a number of drawings, cheerfully engaged in domestic tasks. Spencer
described her life as: 'Cinemas motorbikes boys & local socials &
calling on friends & going off on jaunts & shopping & sending
presents to innumerable baby nephews & nieces & quick & not
prolonged chats to the tradesmen & then ironing & washing &
picking beans & pulling off brussells sprouts & yet judicious
& reflective in it all. The sound in the morning below my window of
the wood being demolished to bits for the kitchen & dining room fires.
Much singing of common love songs.'
30 Taking in Washing, Elsie
Volume 2, 1943-4 (no. 61a)
As Elsie collects stockings, a Holy Ghost figure holds a basket of pegs
and Stanley kneels by the fence with his sketchbook. In 1941 he had already
described how he was 'interested in the way she took stockings off the
line, she quickly took several of the feet of the stockings into her hand,
which caused them to become fan-shaped and then unpegged them so that
they flopped over her arms & shoulders like dead leaves…'. He
discussed his feelings for Elsie in the Scrapbooks: 'Although [she] was
"just" a servant we had & a very good one, she was something
that has been a great part of my thought. If there was any affection it
was never made known...Both loved our work & life & could therefore
sincerely sympathize & compare notes. If there was a family outing
all would be well if left to her to arrange…'.
31 Patricia and Gramophone
Volume 2, 1943-4 (no. 94)
Spencer married Patricia Preece four days after his divorce from Hilda.
The marriage was unsuccessful and the couple separated almost immediately.
The few Scrapbook drawings of Patricia show her in Cookham before their
marriage. Tall, glamorous and sophisticated, she dances in Spencer's house
'Lindworth' to his gramophone, whilst he kneels on the floor, possibly
to unpack some of his lavish gifts for her. They are approved by a Holy
Ghost figure.
32 Patricia Shopping
Volume 2, 1943-4 (no. 96)
In 1938 Spencer itemised jewellery purchased for Patricia (not necessarily
a comprehensive list) before the debacle of their marriage: seven rings,
six bracelets, seven necklaces and three pendants. His extravagant spending
is commemorated in this Maidenhead street scene, depicting Stanley with
an elegantly slim Patricia, a Holy Ghost figure at her feet.
33 Chestnuts
Volume 1, 1939-43 (no.11)
A picture entitled 'Chestnuts', c1949, was taken from this drawing and
produced as a design for a tapestry woven for the Dovecote Tapestry Company.
The figures include a man carrying cabbages, the artist threading chestnuts
and Daphne Charlton exploring the bole of a tree. Spencer spent much of
1939 in Leonard Stanley, Gloucestershire, with the painters George and
Daphne Charlton, boarding at the White Hart Inn. George was a lecturer
at the Slade, where Daphne had been one of his students. Stanley and the
exuberant Daphne had an affair during this period. Spencer purchased the
scrapbooks in Gloucestershire and a number of the drawings commemorate
his life there.
4 The Woolshop
Volume 1, 1939-43 (no. 18)
The painting of 'The Woolshop' 1939 was taken from this drawing, which
shows Spencer and Daphne Charlton in Stonehouse, near Leonard Stanley,
checking wool against her sweater. As Daphne explained to the present
writer, in previously unpublished information, her sister-in-law had sent
her a yellow jersey, so Daphne, George and Stanley went to buy wool to
make matching socks. She additionally commented that the woman's face
is a composite of Daphne and Hilda, Spencer telling Daphne, 'you mustn't
mind if I put a bit of Hilda in'.
35 Daphne and Dress Measured from Hip to Ankle
Volume 2, 1943-44 (no. 32)
This is one of several scenes featuring the artist and Daphne at the White
Hart Inn, Leonard Stanley. A similar drawing shows Daphne with a paper
dress pattern, where 'a pattern is being tried against herself & I
measure the length needed.' The third figure (on the left) appears in
a number of drawings, usually to represent the Holy Ghost commending the
scene.
36 Shipbuilding on the Clyde: Plumbers, 1944
Pencil and chalk
During the Second World War, Spencer's commission as an Official War Artist
took him to Port Glasgow where he studied the men at work in Lithgow's
Shipyard. The resulting 'Shipbuilding on the Clyde' series celebrates
their role in the war effort and forms one of the most memorable artistic
records of the war. The vessels under construction were 'Y' Class Standard
Ships for the merchant navy, which were built along increasingly prefabricated
lines to replace losses incurred by the action of enemy submarines in
the Atlantic. This is a study for a detail in the picture of the same
title, 1944-5, where it appears to the left of the central section.
Presented by Mrs G A Worsley, 1969
37 Caulking a Deck, 1940
Pencil and watercolour
In this study for the picture 'Caulking' 1940, which belongs to the early
stages of Spencer's work in Port Glasgow, men in Lithgow's Shipyard caulk
a deck to make it watertight by stopping up the seams. Spencer felt at
home in the shipyard, which he likened to a vast Cookham blacksmith's
forge.
Lent by a private collector
Nos 38-43: Chatto & Windus Almanack, 1927
In 1926 Chatto & Windus commissioned Spencer to produce illustrations on domestic and pastoral themes for an Almanack. The artist's peaceful, lyrical evocation of the seasons is marked by scenes from his childhood, life with friends in London and marriage to Hilda Carline. He was paid £30 for the drawings. The book received favourable reviews: 'The Observer' described the drawings as 'impish and attractive…the smooth pages made one's pen champ to be at them.' Spencer made a number of paintings from the illustrations, such as 'Neighbours', 1936.
38 The Month of March: Fitting Dress on Table, 1926
Pen and ink
This is a recollection of Spencer's first wife Hilda standing on the kitchen
table in her family home, 47 Downshire Hill in Hampstead. It became the
first of the two illustrations for March. On the occasion when Hilda was
measured for a wedding dress, the flurry of preparation upset Stanley
who broke off the engagement, not for the first time. They were finally
married in Wangford church in 1925. The titles of these Chatto drawings,
not captioned in the Almanack, are taken from one of Spencer's hand-written
inventories.
Barbara Karmel Bequest, 1995
39 The Month of March: Spring-Cleaning, 1926
Pen and ink
Set in 'Fernlea', Spencer's childhood home in Cookham High Street, this
describes a necessary annual ritual in the days of coal fires, with chairs
on the table, people cleaning, rolling up the carpet or dusting. The dining
room chairs recur in other compositions of the period.
Barbara Karmel Bequest, 1995
40 Study for the Month of April: Neighbours, 1926
Pen and ink
This composition underwent considerable alteration when it was adapted
for the Almanack and the painting 'Neighbours', 1936. The snow pile and
broom gave way to a scene of tulips being handed over a hedge. At the
request of his publisher, Spencer used pen and ink, which encouraged him
to focus on detail and texture.
Barbara Karmel Bequest, 1995
41 The Month of June: Going on the River, 1926
Pen and ink
Spencer records a familiar scene at Turk's boatyard in Cookham, which
had already featured in 'Swan Upping at Cookham', 1915-9 (Tate) and was
to reappear in 'View from Cookham Bridge', 1936 (no. 3).
Presented by the Farquharson Charity and the Friends of the Stanley Spencer
Gallery, 1965
42 The Month of July: Smelling a Flower, c1924-6
Pen and ink
This image of Hilda occurs in Spencer's large picture 'The Resurrection,
Cookham', 1924-6 (Tate), where she appears as one of the newly resurrected
in Cookham churchyard who emerge in gentle fashion from their graves.
Presented by the Friends of the Stanley Spencer Gallery in memory of Mrs
Marjorie Metz, 1983
43 Study for The Month of September: Walnut Bashing, 1926
Pen and ink, with pencil
In this preliminary sketch, boys gather walnuts from the large tree at
the end of the 'Fernlea' garden. The Spencer boys sometimes climbed onto
a neighbour's 'tin sheds' to do so, much to his annoyance. The drawing
was discovered on the verso of 'The Month of June: Going on the River'
(no. 41).
44 Hilda Sorting Newspapers, c1929
Pencil and wash
Drawn during the Burghclere period, this vivid sketch gives a glimpse
of Hilda in a characteristic pose. She appears in similar fashion in 'The
Anthracite Stove', 1929, one of the companion pictures to 'The Garage'
(no. 7).
Presented by Mr G G Shiel, 1967
Catalogue by Carolyn Leder
©2008
illustration: The Garage, 1929 (7)
This exhibition has been made possible with the assistance of the Government
Indemnity Scheme which is provided by DCMS and administered by MLA.