Study for Unveiling of the Cookham War Memorial

Details

SIR STANLEY SPENCER, R.A. (1891-1959)
Study for Unveiling of the Cookham War Memorial
signed and inscribed '"Dedication of the Cookham/War Memorial"/Stanley Spencer' (on the artist's label attached to the backboard)
pencil on paper, lightly squared for transfer
13 3⁄4 x 13 3⁄4 in. (34.9 x 34.9 cm.)
Executed in 1919.

Provenance

Acquired from Piccadilly Gallery, London in August 1989.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, Sir Stanley Spencer, R.A.: A collection of paintings and drawings, London, Piccadilly Gallery, 1978, n.p., no. 23, dated 'circa 1922', illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, Stanley Spencer R.A., London, Royal Academy, 1980, p. 81, no. 67, dated '1921', illustrated.

Exhibited

London, Piccadilly Gallery, Sir Stanley Spencer, R.A.: A collection of paintings and drawings, September - October 1978, no. 23, dated 'circa 1922'.
London, Royal Academy, Stanley Spencer R.A., September - December 1980, no. 67, dated '1921'.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Amelia Walker Director, Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections

awalker@christies.com +44 20 7389 2085

Lot Essay

Professor Keith Bell has noted that the present work is likely the working drawing for Unveiling Cookham War Memorial (1921-1922), which was commissioned by Sir Michael Sadler. Whilst the subject is unusual in being about a specific event, it does address his own interest in Cookham, and his recent experience of the War. Spencer wrote of the oil, ‘It was intended to express the absence of hurry … and to express the peaceful life that I visualised people could live if there was no war’ (K. Bell, loc. cit.).

We are very grateful to Professor Keith Bell for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.

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