News and Events
Events 2009
| NEW EVENT | |
| Stanley Spencer Artist and Medical Orderley | The Beaufort War Hospital, Bristol - Saturdays in June 2009 10.30am - 3.30pm |
Summer Has Officially Arrived in Cookham
Summer has officially arrived in Cookham! The Summer exhibition, ‘ Stanley Spencer and the River Thames’ was opened on Saturday 16 May by Dr Stephen Deuchar, Director Tate Britain. Calling Spencer ‘One of the most important figures in British art’ he said it was high time the Tate revisited his work and that he would be considering staging a major exhibition in the future. Asked recently to name his top ten paintings in the world he chose Swan Upping as one of them – the painting currently hangs in the gallery as one of four paintings on loan from the Tate. Calling the Gallery a ‘small but perfect’ shrine to Spencer’s works he said Spencer was important not only to Cookham but to England and the wider world, that we should cherish his ability to see miracles all around.
Dr Deuchar brought his young daughter Faith with him to Cookham, and they spent the morning walking round the village looking at the places which inspired the artist. Growing up in a small village herself Dr Deucher hoped that she too would understand that sense of place that was so important to
Spencer.
Among the other guests were Lord Astor, whose father was Spencer’s
patron, Unity Spencer his younger daughter, Theresa May MP and the Mayor
of Maidenhead Councillor Dorothy Kemp.
Also present were Friends of the Gallery and owners of many of the paintings
on loan to the gallery collection. Stuart Conlin, chair of the trustees
welcomed everyone and underlined how successful the refurbishment of the
gallery had been, and that more visitors than ever were now coming in
to the gallery. The Mayor and our local MP were then presented with baskets
of flowers made by Molly Hurley, one of the custodians.
A Spencer Collage for the Cookham Festival
For the Cookham Festival the Maidenhead Painting Club which meets on Thursday evenings at Holy Trinity School in School Lane Cookham produced a fantastic collage.
The subject was this fabulous version of Stanley Spencer's famous painting Swan Upping. It was created by Louise Wood and the Maidenhead Painting Club. A real work of art. which was done mainly by under 5s .
The collage was displayed on Cookham Moor on the final day of the Cookham Festival, May Day, 4 May 2009; where bands were playing, arts and crafts were being performed and displayed and people were there for a fun day out.
A Family of Artists
To
mark the 50th anniversary of Spencer’s death the Gallery welcomed
members of the Spencer family and their in-laws the Carlines on Thursday
30th April 2009. As part of the Cookham Festival a packed gallery heard
about the work of Stanley’s wife Hilda Carline, and that of her artistic
family. Called ‘A Family of Artists’ visitors were enthralled
to hear about the work of Hilda’s father, mother and two brothers.
They were all part of the group of friends who supported and inspired
Spencer. Taking part were Unity and Shirin Spencer, daughters of Stanley
Spencer and Hilda Carline and Francis and Hermione Carline, children of
Hilda’s brother Richard, who were accompanied by Flora Carline, Richards
grandaughter. Many of the images shown were of works normally kept in
private collections.
Picture caption: Francis Carline (left)and Unity Spencer (centre) talking to the audience about their family. Chrissy Rosenthal (right) took the chair
Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta
Last June the
Stanley Spencer Gallery were contacted by Kim Allen, a teacher at Comberton
Village College in Cambridgeshire. Kim said that she was currently embarking
on a large (8’ x 20’) mural project based on Christ Preaching
at Cookham Regatta. As this work was never completed, she felt it would
be inspiring to use it as a starting point for a mural. In her experience,
she felt that Stanley Spencer is under-used in schools because of the
complexity of his compositions and so there was a unique opportunity to
do something about it, working with 19 students for a week off timetable.
There were some changes after the original plans though, In the end they decided to do four panels of 6’ x 4’ so the complete mural is now 6’ x 16’, and several of the students who were going to be involved were away that week in the end, so only 14 took part.
Comberton Village College have their completed version of Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta. Kim managed to get enough information together to produce the Stanley Spencer mural, which is now displayed outside the sports hall at Comberton Village College. Kim said "We had a fantastic time painting it, (14 students aged 12-13, working with Laura Chaplin, Carol Holburn and Kimberley Allen). It has had a lot of extremely positive feedback, from both staff and students.
The young people decided to write their initials on the hockey sticks, so the artists are acknowledged on the painting itself.
Happy Birthday Stanleyl
A wonderful celebration of Stanley Spencer's birthday took place on Sunday 29th June 2008 in the grounds of Holy Trinity church.
Cookham's world famous artist has always been popular with people coming from all over the country to see the Church and village that features in so many of his paintings.
The Stanley Spencer Gallery organised Sunday's open day, and people came to admire the flowers on his memorial, watch films of him at work in the Church, listen to Cookham's outstanding jazz band - the Fabulous Shirtlifters - see the bells that Stanley rang; see again the Hey Big Spencer and enjoy guided walks to many of his favourite places featured in his paintings.
Spencer Impresses Nathaniel
Seventeen year old Nathaniel Gliksman of Oswestry school, Shropshire,
recently visited the Stanley Spencer Gallery to see some of Stanley Spencer's
work. He also visited the Tate Gallery, Liverpool to see the Resurrection
in the exhibition there. He was so impressed he decided to paint his own
version for his recent A2 exam. The photo shows him working on it and
depicts the local church with his friends and himself.
Author Peter Ackroyd Films at the Gallery
It
was a busy day in the Spencer Gallery on Thursday 29th May because as
well as visitors there was filming in the afternoon.
Author Peter Ackroyd is making a four part documentary for ITV and Sky Arts about his recent book about the Thames – and of course a visit to the Gallery is a must! He spoke to the Gallery's curator Carolyn Leder, who can both be seen in the photo.
Peter Ackroyd's Thames will air from 07 August - at 20.00 (peak time!)
on ITV London. It will play on Sky Arts in September. The interview with
Carolyn appears in Episode 2 (14 August ITV London). I