Study for The Resurrection of the Soldiers at Sandham Memorial Chapel
Sir Stanley Spencer, RA (1891 - 1959)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
circa 1923
Materials
Pencil and wash on paper
Measurements
560 x 455 mm
Place of origin
Burghclere
Order this imageCollection
Sandham Memorial Chapel, Hampshire
NT 719806
Summary
Pencil and wash on paper, partly squared for transfer upper left (tears on the edges where the paper has become thin from handling; oil to be mixed with the paint has left dark stains), Study for The Resurrection of the Soldiers by Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE, RA (Cookham 1891– Cliveden 1959), circa 1923-7. Reverse side is inscribed in Spencer's own hand: "Not for sale". An early mis-en-page for the altarpiece, probably co-eval with the two studies for the North and South walls of the chapel, now in the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham. These are the only surviving studies of the complete scheme as it was originally conceived, when Spencer was still thinking of working in fresco. The sides are aligned with Giottesque vignettes showing tents, and tent apertures, variously populated. Another vignette, bottom right is of an indeterminate subject. A predella moulding has been detailed along the bottom. In the final version, the vignettes were dispensed with, but the central figure ensconced between two mules, with Mannered, attenuated necks, has been retained. The broken wheel from the travoy is also visible behind. The bibulous, surging forth of figures and heads has been dispersed into a much more scattered composition in the final version. The proliferation of crosses in the final version is only hinted at in the upper right corner, with figures appearing to emerge from the earth (a form echoed at in the tent openings in the side vignettes). Stylistically very typical of Spencer, with the abbreviated, rounded forms for the heads and the visor-like eyes (see the figure with his foot resting on the wheel). Like the two side wall studies, this drawing is in poor condition, and must have been kept close at hand by Spencer whilst he worked on the paintings for the chapel.
Provenance
Possibly left to National Trust by John Louis Behrend (1881-1972) or given by George Behrend (1922 - 2010)
Credit line
The Behrend Collection, The Vyne (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Sir Stanley Spencer, RA (1891 - 1959), artist
Exhibition history
Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War, Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester, 2013 - 2015, no.ADD L1 Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War, Somerset House, London, 2013 - 2015, no.ADD L1 Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 2013 - 2015, no.ADD L1