Φ Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE, RA (1891-1959)

Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE, RA (1891-1959)
Study: probably for Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta (1953-9)
Oil and pencil study on card, pencil study verso, possibly for `The Resurrection of the Soldiers` (Burghclere Chapel, 1927-8)
38.5 x 49cm
Unframed

Provenance:
Dreweatt's, Newbury, Modern & Contemporary Art, to include Kindred Spirits - The Artistic World of Sir Stanley Spencer, 10 July 2025, part of lot 109

From 1951-1953, Spencer worked tirelessly on studies and ideas for his ambitious final work. The low pink riverbank may be a reference to the one at Bellrope Meadow behind Holy Trinity Church in Cookham and is also to be seen in `John Donne Arriving in Heaven` (1911, Fitzwilliam, Cambridge). Various compositional elements - such as the figures on the riverbank, those punting, seated and in deckchairs - hint at a Regatta theme. The standing woman, her dress gathered at the knee, appears to refer to a similar figure in `Listening from Punts` with a group behind her that may be Christ with disciples.

We are grateful to Dr Amy Lim, Curator of the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham, for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.