Somerset House in London presents Stanley Spencer: Heaven in a Hell of War an exhibition on view through 26 January 2014.
Stanley Spencer’s poignant memories of war, which have drawn such praise as ‘Britain’s answer to the Sistine Chapel’, are leaving their permanent home at the National Trust’s Sandham Memorial Chapel to be exhibited in a one-off, temporary exhibition at Somerset House this autumn. This exhibition marks the National Trust’s first major art exhibition in London for 18 years.
Leading up to the 100th commemoration of the outbreak of the First World War, the exhibition ‘Stanley Spencer: ‘Heaven in a Hell of War” will feature a series of large scale canvas panels from one of the most original and acclaimed British painters of the 20th century. The exhibition then tours to the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, West Sussex from 15 February until June 2014.
The Chapel was built by John Louis and Mary Behrend primarily to house the products of Spencer’s artistic genius – his ‘castle in the sky’, as they called it. It was later dedicated to Mary Behrend’s brother, Harry Sandham, who had died of an illness he had contracted during the First World War, whilst fighting in the forgotten front of Salonika. Spencer painted scenes of his own wartime experiences, as a hospital orderly in Bristol and as a soldier, also on the Salonika front. His recollections, painted entirely from memory, focus on the domestic rather than combative and evoke everyday experience – washing lockers, inspecting kit, sorting laundry, scrubbing floors and taking tea – in which he found spiritual resonance and sustenance.
Peppered with personal and unexpected details, they combine the realism of everyday life with dreamlike visions drawn from his imagination. In his own words, the paintings are ‘a symphony of rashers of bacon’ with ‘tea-making obligato’ and describe the banal daily life that, to those from the battlefield, represented a ‘heaven in a hell of war.’ For Spencer, the menial became the miraculous; a form of reconciliation.
The paintings, which took six years to create and were completed in 1932, are considered by many to be the artist’s finest achievement. As well as being one of Britain’s most important war artists, Spencer was a key figure in the development of figurative art in 20th century Britain and this exhibition provides an opportunity to look up close at his accomplished paintwork, sensitive use of colour, and masterly still-life. As the UK’s involvement in the current Afghan conflict draws to a close in 2014 – the centenary of the First World War – this exhibition also serves as a timely reminder that the wartime chores depicted in his painting are as relevant now as they were back then.
Co-curated by Amanda Bradley and David Taylor from the National Trust, and designed by acclaimed exhibition designers Casson Mann, the exhibition will also include preparatory sketches by Spencer, paintings by Spencer’s friend and contemporary, Henry Lamb, along with material on the patrons of the chapel, John Louis and Mary Behrend.
Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA www.somersethouse.org.uk