Навчальний посібник для студентів ос «Бакалавр» галузі знань 03 «Гуманітарні науки»

187 
claustrophobic and his use of colour less vivid he maintained an attention to 
detail in his paintings akin to that of the Pre-Raphaelites.
Spencer's works often express his fervent if unconventional Christian faith. 
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. Spencer's works originally provoked great shock and 
controversy. Nowadays, they still seem stylistic and experimental, whilst the 
nude works depicting his futile relationship with Patricia Preece, such as 
the 
Leg of mutton nude
, foreshadow some of the much later works ofLucian 
Freud. Spencer's early work is regarded as a synthesis of French Post-
Impressionism, exemplified for instance by Paul Gauguin, plus early Italian 
painting typified by Giotto. Whilst a student Spencer allied with a, short-
lived, group who called themselves the "Neo-Primitives" which was centred 
on David Bomberg and William Roberts.
In later life Spencer remained an 
independent artist and did not join any of the artistic movements of the period, 
although he did show three works at the 
Second Post-Impressionist 
Exhibition
in 1912.
Whilst in Gloucestershire before World War Two, Spencer had 
embarked on a series of, eventually, over 100 pencil works, known as the 
Scrapbook Drawings
. In 1950, the outgoing president of the Royal Academy, 
Sir Alfred Munnings got hold of some of these drawings and initiated a police 
prosecution against Spencer for obscenity.
[29]
 It was reported in the press that 
the, unnamed, owner of the pictures agreed to destroy them. Spencer also 
appears to have removed some drawings from his private scrapbooks and 
continued to ensure that the Leg of mutton nude would not be exhibited 
during his lifetime. He was awarded the CBE and the new President of the 
Royal Academy, Sir Gerald Kelly, who had supported Spencer in the 
obscenity case, persuaded him to rejoin the Royal Academy, as an Associate 

before being elected an Academician.
Spencer visited his elder brother 
Harold in Northern Ireland in 1951, 1952 and 1953, painting portraits of 
Harold's daughter, Daphne, and urban scenes there, most notably 
Merville 
Garden Village near Belfast
in 1951. 
In the spring of 1954, the Chinese government invited various western 
delegations to visit China for the fifth anniversary celebrations of the 
"Liberation" of October 1949.
Members of the hastily assembled "cultural 
delegation" included Stanley Spencer, Leonard Hawkes, Rex Warner, Hugh 
Casson and AJ Ayer. Spencer told Zhou Enlai that "I feel at home in China 
because I feel that Cookham is somewhere near, only just around the corner." 
Towards the end of 1955, a large retrospective of Spencer's work was held at 
the Tate and he began a series of large paintings centred on the work 
Christ 
Preaching at Cookham Regatta
, which were intended for the Church-House.
In his later years Spencer was seen as a "small man with twinkling eyes 
and shaggy grey hair, often wearing his pyjamas under his suit if it was cold." 
Spencer became a "familiar sight, wandering the lanes of Cookham pushing 
the old pram in which he carried his canvas and easel." A scene of Spencer 
pushing his easel along in a pram, and surrounded by angels, was the subject 
of the painting 
Homage to Spencer
by the artist Derek Clarke.
[44]
 The pram, 
black and battered, has survived to become the most curious exhibit in 
the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham, which is dedicated to its owner's 
life and works.
In 1958 Spencer painted 
The Crucifixion
which was set in Cookham 
High Street and first displayed in Cookham Church. The painting employed a 
similar composition and viewpoint to an earlier painting, 
The Scarecrow, 
Cookham
(1934) but with the two gargoyle-like carpenters nailing Christ to 
the cross and a screaming crucified thief, was by far the most violent of all 
Spencer's paintings. Spencer was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters 

189 
by Southampton University in 1958, three days before he received his 
knighthood atBuckingham Palace.
The memorial stone for Stanley Spencer and his first wife, Hilda, in 
Cookham churchyard. 
In December 1958 Spencer was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent 
an operation at the Canadian War Memorial Hospital on theCliveden estate in 
1959. After his operation, he went to stay with friends in Dewsbury. There, 
over five days from July 12 to July 16 he painted a final self-portrait. 
Self-
Portrait
(1959) shows a fierce, almost defiant individual. Lord Astor made 
arrangements so that Spencer could move into his childhood home, Fernlea, 
and he died of cancer at nearby Cliveden in December that year. At the time 
of his death
Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta
remained unfinished at his 
home.
[6]
 Spencer was cremated and his ashes laid in Cookham Churchyard, 
beside the path through to Bellrope Meadow. A discreet stone memorial 
marks the spot. The commemorative wording is: - 
To the memory of Stanley 
Spencer Kt. CBE RA, 1891 – 1959 and his wife Hilda, buried in Cookham 
cemetery 1950. Everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God: He 
that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. 

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