Spencer, Sir Stanley (1891-1959), was one of the most distinctive British artists of the 1900’s. Spencer’s style avoided all the modern movements of the century, and during much of his career, he was criticized as an eccentric individualist. After Spencer’s death, his reputation rose, and he is now ranked among the major English painters in modern art.
Spencer was born on June 30, 1891, in Cookham, Berkshire, where he lived most of his life. Cookham plays a central role in many of Spencer’s paintings. He incorporated views of Cookham in his religious scenes, notably in Resurrection, Cookham (1926). Perhaps Spencer’s greatest achievement is a series of murals he painted for a memorial chapel in Hampshire from 1927 to 1932. The scenes portray the life of the common soldier and reflect Spencer’s experiences as an official war artist in 1918 during World War I. Spencer also painted landscapes and a few portraits. His nudes and other highly sexual pictures created considerable controversy. The best known is a double portrait of the artist and his wife that is commonly known as The Leg of Mutton Nude (1937). Spencer was knighted in 1959. He died on Dec. 14, 1959.
