Sketch for Firebelt, Sandham Memorial Chapel
Sir Stanley Spencer, RA (1891 - 1959)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
circa 1923
Materials
Pencil on paper, squared for transfer
Measurements
499 x 457 mm (19 5/8 x 18 in)
Place of origin
Burghclere
Collection
Sandham Memorial Chapel, Hampshire
NT 2900046
Summary
Pencil on squared paper, and squared for transfer, Sketch for Firebelt by Sir Stanley Spencer (1891-1959), inscribed upper right: 'Cartoon for the Fire belt Burghcler [sic]'. This is more advanced than a 'prima pensiero', but - even though squared - it is not sufficiently worked-up to be a cartoon. The scheme is close to the final version, but with more tents depicted in the upper section, fewer figures, and a greater emphasis on the tangle of tent pulleys (bottom right). The just-visible sequence of vertically-arranged vignettes (bottom right) do not refer to the finished canvas. There is a large rip, mid-right, with the same squared paper attached underneath. The pencil marks suggest that it was Spencer who made the addition.
Provenance
Purchased by the National Trust at Christie's, South Kensington, London, 5 February 2013, lot 285, for £2,064 including buyer's premium and artist's resale rights
Credit line
Sandham Memorial Chapel (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Sir Stanley Spencer, RA (1891 - 1959), publisher
Exhibition history
Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War, Manchester Art Gallery, 2013 - 2015, no.ADD L5 Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War, Somerset House, London, 2013 - 2015, no.ADD L5 Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2013 - 2015, no.ADD L5