Sir Stanley Spencer (1891 – 1951)
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Sir Stanley Spencer was an English painter, who mostly concentrated on biblical scenes. Spencer was born and spent much of his like in Cookham, a small village near the Thames in Berkshire. Spencer saw Cookham as heavenly, and was often used as the backdrop for his religious paintings.
Spencer began his studies in 1908 at the Slade School of Art at the University College in London. Spencer painted alongside such artists as Mark Gertler, Paul Nash and Edward Wadsworth. Henry Tonks was one of Spencer’s more influential and well-known tutors. While in London, Spencer returned to Cookham so often that many of his peers nicknamed him “Cookham”.
In 1915 Spencer hesitantly joined the Royal Army Medical Corps where he was first stationed at a hospital in England, and later in Macedonia with an ambulance unit. Spencer was eventually called upon by the War Artists Advisory Committee to depict events that took place in Macedonia. This first war painting led to further commissions, including a series of murals for the Sandham Memorial Chapel in Burghclere, dedicated to fallen soldiers. Spencer continued to work as a war artist until the end of the Second World War, ultimately painting shipbuilders in Glasgow. After the war Spencer began focusing on religious and apocalyptic paintings.
Spencer was married to a Hilda Carline from 1925 to 1937. The couple met at Slade in London and had two children named Shirin and Unity. After divorcing, Spencer immediately remarried Patricia Preece. While married, Preece lived with her lesbian partner and refused to consummate the union. While their marriage was not sexual, Preece often posed nude for Spencer’s paintings. Spencer continued to visit his ex-wife Hilda who suffered from cancer and mental illness. In 1996 the playwright, Pat Gems wrote an award winning play titled “Stanley” about Spencer’s unusual relationships. The play eventually made it to Broadway and won a Tony award.
In 1959 Spencer was knighted for his excellence in painting, becoming Sir Stanley Spencer. After his death, the Stanley Spencer Gallery was opened in Cookham to honor his life and work. The gallery contains a number of Spencer’s paintings as well as many of his personal belongings.
Spencer’s work now belongs to important collection in the United Kingdom and around the world. Do you think you own a painting by Sir Stanley Spencer? Contact us. We are the Spencer experts.