Finding the Sacred in the Ordinary – the Life and paintings of Stanley Spencer
Stanley Spencer R.A. (1891 -1959) was a visionary artist and brilliant draughtsman who loved creating imaginary paintings with religious subjects, often featuring Christ in his beloved Cookham (his paradise). But he also painted the most lovely landscapes, literally rendered, and made portraits and drawings of friends and well known people. He dismissed his landscapes as mere 'potboilers' yet they are often people's introduction to his other deeper and elusive art. He saw the sacred in the ordinary, and through painting he gave praise for our world and its people: for cabbages as well as scrap iron, for a child's actions as well as for resurrection, for letters and for the Thames. This illustrated talk will explore his life and work with special attention to his rendering, in his writings also, of the sacred in the ordinary.
Burghclere Chapel (National Trust) near Newbury has his murals commemorating the non-violent aspects of war. The Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham is devoted to his work and Tate Britain has many of his paintings. The best biography is 'Stanley Spencer' by Ken Pople (now second hand).