Paradise Regained: Stanley Spencer in the Aftermath of World War One
Extended until 29th March 2015!!
Open daily 10:30 am to 5:30pm until 2nd November; Thursdays to Sundays 11 am to 4.30 pm thereafter
Extended until 29th March 2015!!
Open daily 10:30 am to 5:30pm until 2nd November; Thursdays to Sundays 11 am to 4.30 pm thereafter
Adults £5.00
Concessions £4.00 (Seniors, Students) The Art Fund Free Children Free (with adult) Friends of the Stanley Spencer Gallery Free (on production of Membership Card) |
Groups
Group Bookings with talk £30 plus Admission Group Talk&Walk £50 Group Walk only £20 (Groups must be booked in advance 01628 471885) |
Paradise Regained
Stanley Spencer in the Aftermath of the First World War
The First World War was to have a profound effect upon the artist Stanley Spencer (1891-1959). Looking back upon his years in uniform he bemoaned ‘Oh no, it is not proper or sensible to expect to paint well after such experiences’.
Prior to the First World War Spencer had painted some of his most spiritual and lauded works of art set within Cookham, the village of his birth, and it was with great reluctance that he left for war in 1915 initially joining the Royal Army Medical Corps and eventually serving in the front line in Macedonia. On his return he soon forsook an official war work commission amidst fears that he had lost his artistic vision.
Cookham was very important to the artist at this critical point of his career. Paradise Regained. Stanley Spencer in the Aftermath of the First World War demonstrates how Spencer redeemed the devastating effects of the war upon his personal and professional life, renewing the connection with his birthplace. Returning to safer ground he once again sought inspiration from his surroundings, exclaiming : ‘After the war I felt, on returning home, as if I were performing a miracle every time I beheld the familiar spots’. Featured within this show are a number of paintings depicting scenes located within the very fabric of the village, and their exhibition at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in this Great War centenary year is most appropriate. Making a poignant return is Unveiling Cookham War Memorial 1922 (lent by a private owner) an intriguingly peaceful painting of a ceremony which would have had great importance for the Spencer family as Stanley’s elder brother Sydney, whose name is carved on the memorial cross, had been killed in the last few months of the war. Spencer chose to portray the event in a light hearted fashion describing the painting as ‘my Ascot fashions, my sweet pea colours’. In Christ carrying the Cross 1920 (lent by Tate) Christ processes down Cookham High Street on his way to Calvary, followed by the local builder’s men carrying ladders. Although the artist’s intention was to convey a reassuring feeling of comfort derived from association with the familiar routine of village life, critics at the time and since have interpreted this work as very much informed by the trauma of war.
By 1923 Spencer felt ready to return to his wartime memories, drawing up detailed plans for a scheme of paintings designed to decorate a memorial chapel depicting his experiences, which was eventually built at Burghclere near Newbury (now The Sandham Memorial Chapel). Having lost his kit bag containing sketches whilst abroad he referred back to pencil and wash studies made on his immediate return in 1918/19. Newly acquired and on show at the Gallery for the first time are Pack Mules and Wounded being carried by Mules in Macedonia which demonstrate the essential part played by mules, which held great sway over Spencer’s imagination, in the Salonika campaign.
Stanley Spencer in the Aftermath of the First World War
The First World War was to have a profound effect upon the artist Stanley Spencer (1891-1959). Looking back upon his years in uniform he bemoaned ‘Oh no, it is not proper or sensible to expect to paint well after such experiences’.
Prior to the First World War Spencer had painted some of his most spiritual and lauded works of art set within Cookham, the village of his birth, and it was with great reluctance that he left for war in 1915 initially joining the Royal Army Medical Corps and eventually serving in the front line in Macedonia. On his return he soon forsook an official war work commission amidst fears that he had lost his artistic vision.
Cookham was very important to the artist at this critical point of his career. Paradise Regained. Stanley Spencer in the Aftermath of the First World War demonstrates how Spencer redeemed the devastating effects of the war upon his personal and professional life, renewing the connection with his birthplace. Returning to safer ground he once again sought inspiration from his surroundings, exclaiming : ‘After the war I felt, on returning home, as if I were performing a miracle every time I beheld the familiar spots’. Featured within this show are a number of paintings depicting scenes located within the very fabric of the village, and their exhibition at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in this Great War centenary year is most appropriate. Making a poignant return is Unveiling Cookham War Memorial 1922 (lent by a private owner) an intriguingly peaceful painting of a ceremony which would have had great importance for the Spencer family as Stanley’s elder brother Sydney, whose name is carved on the memorial cross, had been killed in the last few months of the war. Spencer chose to portray the event in a light hearted fashion describing the painting as ‘my Ascot fashions, my sweet pea colours’. In Christ carrying the Cross 1920 (lent by Tate) Christ processes down Cookham High Street on his way to Calvary, followed by the local builder’s men carrying ladders. Although the artist’s intention was to convey a reassuring feeling of comfort derived from association with the familiar routine of village life, critics at the time and since have interpreted this work as very much informed by the trauma of war.
By 1923 Spencer felt ready to return to his wartime memories, drawing up detailed plans for a scheme of paintings designed to decorate a memorial chapel depicting his experiences, which was eventually built at Burghclere near Newbury (now The Sandham Memorial Chapel). Having lost his kit bag containing sketches whilst abroad he referred back to pencil and wash studies made on his immediate return in 1918/19. Newly acquired and on show at the Gallery for the first time are Pack Mules and Wounded being carried by Mules in Macedonia which demonstrate the essential part played by mules, which held great sway over Spencer’s imagination, in the Salonika campaign.