17th January 2008
Taking as its theme 'Love and Work' the gallery will show 'The Garage' - commissioned in 1929 by the Empire Marketing Board to highlight industry and peace. Spencer was working at the same time on his major war memorial at Burghclere. 'The Garage', on loan from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, shows Spencer as a master of the realist movement in modern Britain, and not the just the visionary painter he is generally known as. His love for and reflection of the ordinary is seen equally in 'The Blacksmith's Yard' of his beloved Cookham. 'The Dustman or The Lovers', again set in the Cookham High Street, explores Spencer's belief that love can break down barriers and that the expression of love can lead to intellectual development.
Also on show will be major pieces from the permanent collection such as 'The Last Supper' and 'Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta' along with many other significant paintings and drawings.
The Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham, Berks, England
