Lost Stanley Spencer sketchbook found by The Hepworth Wakefield during research for summer exhibition
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
Hepworth Wakefield reveals lost sketchbook of Sir Stanley Spencer ahead of major summer exhibition
The Cedar, Cookham from Stanley Spencer's sketchbook, 1907. © The Estate of Stanley Spencer / Bridgeman Images. Courtesy The Hepworth WakefieldContaining his earliest known drawings and a short story, the precious notebook was uncovered by curator Eleanor Clayton, the venue's Curator, during a research visit to the Spencer family home in preparation for the show Stanley Spencer: Of Angels and Dirt, which opens on June 24 2016 and marks the 125th anniversary of his birth.
Dated in Spencer’s own hand on February 10 1907, the sketchbook is filled with pastoral sketches and bizarre fairy tale illustrations. Spencer was only a teenager when it was created, making it the earliest known example of the artist’s work.
“I’m thrilled that the Spencer family have given us permission to include this sketchbook in our major exhibition this summer,” says Clayton, who came across the book while researching the show in the Spencer family home in London.
Stanley Spencer’s Sketchbook, 1907© The Estate of Stanley Spencer / Bridgeman Images. Courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield“It’s fascinating to see, even at the age of 15-and-a-half, Spencer’s clear love of the Cookham landscape in detailed depictions of local flora and fauna, as well as his eccentric imagination, through fantastical images of guards riding on giant snails with the caption ‘patience is a virtue’, mermaids and characters from fairytales," adds Clayton.
The uncovered sketchbook featuring the earliest known works by Spencer will feature in the exhibition with a facsimile of the book alongside for visitors to leaf through.
Bringing together more than 70 significant works spanning the artist’s entire 45-year career, the exhibition will include a number of Spencer’s rarely-seen self-portraits and important works from private collections publicly exhibited for the first time in decades.
- Stanley Spencer: Of Angels and Dirt will be on display at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire from June 24 - October 5 2016. Visit hepworthwakefield.org/stanley-spencer for more.
© The Estate of Stanley Spencer / Bridgeman Images. Courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield
© The Estate of Stanley Spencer / Bridgeman Images. Courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield
© The Estate of Stanley Spencer / Bridgeman Images. Courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield
The Flying Dutchman and his wife, Old Mother Goose, from the Sketchbooks of Stanley Spencer, 1907© The Estate of Stanley Spencer / Bridgeman Images. Courtesy The Hepworth Wakefield
Stanley Spencer’s Sketchbook, 1907. © The Estate of Stanley Spencer / Bridgeman Images. Courtesy The Hepworth WakefieldMore on Stanley Spencer
The year of Stanley Spencer: Galleries celebrate the life and works of an English genius
Unity Spencer's doll delights - and deepens the mystery of Stanley Spencer painting
Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/painting-and-drawing/art553610
