Stanley Spencer was born in 1891 in Cookham, a village that, emotionally at least, he never left throughout his life. Bowie is a Spencer enthusiast and collector who here shows rare footage of the artist in selections from home movies as well as recollections from family and friends. We can see similarities with the style of David Hockney within both his landscape and portrait scenes, but, of course, Stanley Spencer arrived far earlier. The artist would have studied these artists in detail for a manner of reasons, such as mastering his figurative portraits as well as gaining inspiration for his connections between the spiritual and natural world within many of his paintings. Religion, sex and war were topics he often painted. A painting by the eccentric English artist Sir Stanley Spencer is been stolen from an art gallery in Berkshire. Another was the series The Beatitudes (1937-1938) that explored his relationship with Preece, and the different components of human love and desire. He drew on his personal experience when painting Travoys Arriving with Wounded at a Dressing Station at Smol, Macedonia, September 1916 (1919) that was commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee. 174, as 'The Bridle Path'. See available works on paper, paintings, and prints and multiples for sale and learn about the artist. He was a strongly religious man who saw elements of God in everyday life, particularly in the picturesque regions near to his family home. The musician David Bowie narrates this BBC documentary of British painter Sir Stanley Spencer of Cookham in 2001. Between 1935 and 1937, Spencer painted his famous series of nude portraits of Preece. Spencer became convinced that if he married Preece, he would then be able to persuade Carline to join them in … The most obvious link can be drawn from his large scale frescoes which recreated the Resurrection from his own perspective - these are still considered amongst his finest achievements of all. His father, usually known as Par, was a music teacher and church organist. (Stanley Spencer [English painter, 1891-1959]) He was an Official War Artist in both World Wars. Sir Stanley Spencer, (born June 30, 1891, Cookham, Berkshire, England—died December 14, 1959, Taplow, Buckinghamshire), one of the leading painters in England between the World Wars. Available for sale from Trinity House Paintings, Stanley Spencer, Promenade of People (1939), Pencil on paper, 4 1/2 × 15 1/2 in He received rave reviews, especially for the monumental painting The Resurrection, Cookham (1924-1927), that was described by The Times as “the most important picture painted by any English artist in the present century”. Par Spencer approached local landowners, Lord and Lady Boston, for advice, and Lady Boston agreed Stanley could spend time drawing with her each week. - Stanley Spencer, 1959 Stanley Spencer was one of the leading artists in England during the early 20th century. This had been done before by artists such as William Blake, but Spencer's approach was particularly personal and also did not carry any political messages. The portrait puts Spencer's face alongside the great and the good in the history of art, while by contrast, hung humbly for years in the front bedroom of Fernlea, the Spencer family home in Cookham-on-Thames. Preece, aware of Spencer's fantasy for her to be his wife, insisted that he must obtain a divorce from Carline before she would marry him. The village appears repeatedly in Spencer’s paintings: he often used village landmarks as the backdrop to religious scenes and used neighbours and family members as models. From 1908 to 1912, Spencer painted and exhibited a number of works, in which some of his lifelong approaches and themes were already clearly defined. His work was featured in numerous exhibitions at key galleries and museums, including the Tate Britain and the Fitzwilliam Museum.Stanley Spencer's work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from $81 USD to $9,719,114 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork. The painter Stanley Spencer was born there on 30 June, 1891 and lived there, with few absences, until his death in 1959. However, his contribution to British art and his true stature as an artist are now recognized internationally. The village of Cookham will always be synonymous with the career of Stanley Spencer, such was his love for this location as well as the large number of artworks from his career that were produced here. Double Nude Portrait: The Artist and his Second Wife 1937 (also known as the Leg of mutton nude portrait) is an oil on canvas painting by British artist Stanley Spencer. © www.StanleySpencer.org 2020. In his final years, he worked intensely on his most ambitious project the ‘Church-house’ – a half-religious, half-secular space intended for the exhibition of his paintings. View Stanley Spencer’s 1,048 artworks on artnet. Spencer, Stanley (1891-1959) - 1915-19 Swan Upping at Cookham (Tate Gallery, London) Oil on canvas; 109.2 x 109.2 cm. London, Tate Gallery, The Private Collector: An Exhibition of the Pictures and Sculpture Selected from the Members of the Contemporary Art Society's Own Collections, March - April 1950, no. Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. This is especially evident in the scenes that he based in Cookham which show the compassion that he felt for his fellow residents and also his romantic and sexual obsessions. Find an in-depth biography, exhibitions, original artworks for sale, the latest news, and sold auction prices. The auction record for a painting by Sir Stanley Spencer was broken twice within minutes at Sotheby's in London. 1). A.L.S., Stanley Spencer, two pages, 8vo, Nursing Home, n.d., to Mr. Holden. Stanley Spencer was a British Postwar & Contemporary artist who was born in 1891. The remarkable English painter Stanley Spencer produced a series of works entitled Christ in the Wilderness (1939-54), portraying the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness. All Rights Reserved, Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta, Girls Listening, Travoys Arriving with Wounded at a Dressing-Station at Smol, Macedonia, September 1916. The erotic content and distorted figures in his new works did not appeal to critics and patrons, which led to financial difficulties.Spencer’s career stabilized in the following decade, and immediately following World War II he worked on two large painting series: Shipbuilding on the Clyde (1939-1945) that commemorated the war effort and the Port Glasgow Resurrection (1939-1945), inspired by the graveyard near the town Port Glasgow. Although the painting showed the endless lines of wounded, Spencer who was a devout Christian maintained: “I meant it not as a scene of horror but a scene of redemption”. For many people outside the art world, Spencer has seemingly flown under the radar. The turbulent relationship however inspired some of Spencer’s most personal and intimate works. Even just his national fame has proved enough to force high valuations of his paintings, with several selling at auction in their millions. Buy Stanley Spencer Prints Now from Amazon. Of particular interest are the pram that Stanley Spencer famously used to transport his painting equipment around the village and the delicate brushes he used for the fine detail in his later works. Stanley Spencer’s letters. The family home, "Fernlea", on Cookham High Street, had been built by Spencer's grandfather Julius Spencer. He used an expressively distorted style of drawing and often drew upon Christian subjects. His charming landscape scenes of the quintessential British countryside have drawn support from the US, though, just as Hockney has achieved himself. Highly controversial and single-minded in the pursuit of his personal vision, he often suffered neglect and hostility; ultimately, he has tended to be seen as an eccentric visionary. Despite extensive plans that date back to World War I, the project never materialized. However, even though as far back as the 1990s, his works were setting records at leading art auctions which shows the wide-appeal of his works. Stanley Spencer was one of the most significant British artists of the inter-war period. Stanley Spencer painting in Cookham churchyard, 1958. As his career progressed Spencer often produced landscapes for commercial necessity and the intensity of his early visionary years diminished somewhat while elements of eccentricity came more to the fore. Stanley Spencer, (English painter, 1891 – 1959) Workmen in the House 1935 Stanley Spencer, (English painter, 1891 – 1959) Workmen in the House 1935 Stanley Spencer painted men working for decades. London, National Gallery, British Painting since Whistler, March - April 1940, no. Stanley's younger brother, Gilbert Spencer (1892–1979), also became a notable artist, known principally for his landscape paintings. Spencer referred to Cookham as "a village in Heaven" and in his biblical scenes, fellow-villagers are shown as their Gospel counterparts. Sandham is home to what is arguably the most important series of paintings by the modern British artist, Sir Stanley Spencer (1891-1959). Eventually, Gilbert was sent to a school in Maidenhead, but the family did not feel this would be beneficial for Stanley, who was developing into a solitary teenager given to long walks, yet with a passion for drawing. Stanley Spencer was British painter known for his depictions of Christian themes in contemporary settings. Although the painting showed the endless lines of wounded, Spencer who was a devout Christian maintained: “I meant it not as a scene of horror but a scene of redemption”. As a follower of traditional art, as well as a devoutly religious individual, it seems inevitable that Spencer would attempt to draw in influences from Renaissance art at some point in his career. Provenance: Christie’s; The artist’s studio sale, 5th November 1998 Category 20th Century Figurative Drawings and Watercolors Spencer chose to set the scene in the Cookham churchyard. Fan account of Sir Stanley Spencer, an English painter. Stanley Spencer painted The Resurrection, between 1924 and 1926 in a studio in Hampstead borrowed from Henry Lamb. In 1935, he resigned as an Associate of the Royal Academy when two of his paintings were rejected for the annual summer exhibition. Other works are from the Stanley Spencer Gallery collection, private owners and other galleries. Exhibitions are mounted on … The musician David Bowie narrates this BBC documentary of British painter Sir Stanley Spencer of Cookham in 2001. Photograph: Family handout The artist’s grandson, John Spencer, told the Guardian that Spencer’s full story would finally be told, “warts and all”. The prominence and popularity of some of the larger galleries in London may in future help to further establish his reputation, when the next major examination of his paintings appears, which it inevitably will. This article is more than 7 years old . Stanley Spencer by David Bowie. View Stanley Spencer’s 1,048 artworks on artnet. The marriage with Preece was a failure, and she quickly returned to her life with Hepworth. The Grave of Sir Stanley Spencer - Awaiting the Resurrection, Cookham.jpg 1,761 × 2,568; 1.3 MB Travoys Arriving with Wounded at a Dressing-Station at Smol, Macedonia, September 1916 (1919) (Art.IWM ART 2268).jpg 800 × 664; 89 KB 2, private collection, currently on loan to the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham). Highlights are Hilda Carline’s defiant early self-portrait (on loan from Tate), Spencer’s own portrait of Patricia Preece (on loan from Southampton City Art Gallery) and a rarely seen self-portrait from Patrica Preece’s partner Dorothy Hepworth. Er besuchte Maidenhead Technical College. Nowadays, they still seem stylistic and experimental, while the nude works depicting his futile relationship with his second wife, Patricia Preece, such as the Leg of mutton nude, foreshadow some of the much later works of Lucian Freud. Photograph: Family handout The artist’s grandson, John Spencer, told the Guardian that Spencer’s full story would finally be told, “warts and all”. However, Gilbert and Stanley took drawing lessons from a local artist, Dorothy Bailey. Once again Spencer drew on his personal experience of the War, but rather than focus on grand themes of heroism and sacrifice, he portrayed the life of the common soldier. In 1907 Lady Boston arranged for Stanley to attend Maidenhead Technical Institute, where his father insisted he should not take any exams. Shop for stanley spencer art from the world's greatest living artists. These beautiful and compelling images give us a startling insight into Jesus' vocation and his own understanding of his ministry. Stanley Spencer was British painter known for his depictions of Christian themes in contemporary settings. This is Spencer’s final self-portrait and one of his last paintings. Description: Sir Stanley Spencer (1891-1959), British PORTRAIT OF DAPHNE ROBINSON SPENCER (THE ARTIST'S NIECE); Pencil drawingSheet 9" x 5.5" - 22.9 x 14 cm. Artwork page for ‘Self-Portrait’, Sir Stanley Spencer, 1959 on display at Tate Britain. His painting of The Nativity gained him a Slade Composition Prize. Stanley Spencer, (English painter, 1891 – 1959) Daphne Charlton Although Stanley Spencer's portraits are brutally realistic & stripped of allegorical references, he wrote, "Every thing or person other than myself is a future potential part of myself, or a revealer of and an agent in revealing unknown parts of myself: unknown husbands, wives, lovers, worshippers, never before seen and only known by a … Stanley war der sechste Sohn von elf Kindern des Organisten und Musikpädagogen William Spencer und seiner Ehefrau Anne. When it was showed for the first time in February 1927 The Times critic described it as "the most important picture painted by any English artist in the present century… It is as if a Pre-Raphaelite had shaken hands with a Cubist". Choose your favorite stanley spencer designs and purchase them as wall art, home decor, phone cases, tote bags, and more! Stanley Spencer. I observed the scared quality in the most unexpected quarters.” Following his success, Spencer began working on a series of murals for the Sandham Memorial at Burghclere in Hampshire (1927-1932). One was a series of erotic nudes, that included two portraits of the artist with his wife: Double Nude Portrait: The Artist and his Second Wife (1937) and Self-portrait with Patricia Preece (1937). All stanley spencer artwork ships within 48 hours and includes a 30-day money-back guarantee. Around the same time, Spencer met the painter Hilda Carline, whom he married in 1925.In 1927, Spencer had his first one-man show at the Goupil Gallery in London. The village appears repeatedly in Spencer’s paintings: he often used village landmarks as the backdrop to religious scenes and used neighbours and family members as models. He has received some significant exhibitions within the UK, including several at the Tate ever since his passing in 1959. Various items of memorabilia that were owned by Stanley Spencer are on permanent display in the Gallery. Biblical events are re-enacted against the backdrop of the quaint, chocolate box English village. It remains the best place to visit in order to understand the artist himself and even visit some of the precise locations of his work. The full text of the article is here →, UCL Slade School of Fine Art (University College London), London, UK, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Spencer, Christ in the Wilderness - Driven by the Spirit, Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta (unfinished), Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta: Punts by the River, Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta: Dinner on the Hotel Lawn.