The activity of the group is to further our understanding and appreciation of art through an illustrated talk from the leader and with contributions from the group. All are welcome; whether expert or not come and join in the conversation, find out more about the wonderful and surprising world of art.

Leader: Robert Sedgley

Next meeting

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 5th of May

Sir Stanley Spencer (1891 – 1959) was an English painter who became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes, often set in the Berkshire village of Cookham beside the River Thames where he was born and spent much of his life. Spencer referred to Cookham as "a village in Heaven" and in his biblical scenes, fellow-villagers are shown as their Gospel counterparts. Spencer was highly skilled at organising multi-figure compositions such as in his large paintings for the Sandham Memorial Chapel and the series, Shipbuilding on the Clyde, a commission for the War Artists' Advisory Committee during the Second World War. During the first world war he had served as a medical orderly in Mesopotamia. He was married twice, first to Hilda Carline, a notable painter in her own right, and then, disastrously, to Patricia Preece who refused to leave her lesbian partner and live with him.

Although his realistic, highly detailed, an sometimes quirky monumental paintings seem stylistically to bypass the modern movements of the twentieth century, he was, in fact, a distinctly individual artist who was very much of his time and the modern spirit.