Lot Essay
Spencer had visited Port Glasgow in order to undertake a commission from the War Artists' Advisory Committee to paint a series of shipyards in Scotland. In May 1940 he went to Lithgow Yard where he developed the idea for a large commemorative series of paintings 'Shipbuilding on the Clyde', executed between 1940 and 1946. Whilst still working on this commission, Spencer began to develop an idea for a Resurrection series which would celebrate the joy and sense of community that he had experienced among the shipyard workers during the war. He was encouraged in this endeavour by his dealer Dudley Tooth who had found the Shipbuilding series easy to sell, and by the reestablishment of his reputation in the art world after the difficulties of the 1930s. Moreover, the sense of belonging he had felt at Port Glasgow made this a fitting symbol of his ideal world and replaced Cookham in his artistic imagination.
Originally Spencer had planned to paint one canvas, some fifty feet in length, depicting Christ seated at the top of a hill surrounded by hovering angels and with a newly resurrected crowd of people climbing up the hill towards Him. This plan proved too ambitious and so the scheme was split into three canvases: 'The Resurrection: The Hill of Zion' (1946) depicting Christ and the disciples seated on a hill; 'The Angels of the Apocalypse' (1949) depicting avenging angels hovering in the sky above Christ and intended to be hung above 'The Hill of Zion'; and 'The Resurrection, Port Glasgow' (1947-50) showing the newly resurrected climbing out of their graves in the cemetery and preparing to meet Christ for judgement. The difficulties of size and the pressure to sell the works individually resulted in this series being split up. Spencer also painted a complementary group of resurrection scenes depicting the activities of the resurrected and their rejoicing families reunited on the Day of Judgement. He intended to emphasise the joy of the Resurrection and so changed his original plan for the design of the present work. Instead of depicting the Angels of the Apocalypse poised above Christ's head with their vials of wrath to mete out punishment on those whom Christ had judged, he changed the meaning of the picture into 'one of the few compositions I have done of the Creation this being angels assisting God in fertilizing the earth with distributory seeds' (see K. Bell, loc. cit.).
The Port Glasgow Resurrection Series (1945-50) was the artist's final treatment of this theme. Seven of the works from the series of nine paintings are in public collections. 'The Resurrection: Waking Up' (1945) was sold in these Rooms on 9 March 1990, lot 300 for £770,000, producing a then world record price for a Modern British picture at auction.
A group of photographs, including Stanley Spencer at Port Glasgow, by William MacQuitty will be on view and available for purchase between Sunday, 23 November and Wednesday, 26 November.
Originally Spencer had planned to paint one canvas, some fifty feet in length, depicting Christ seated at the top of a hill surrounded by hovering angels and with a newly resurrected crowd of people climbing up the hill towards Him. This plan proved too ambitious and so the scheme was split into three canvases: 'The Resurrection: The Hill of Zion' (1946) depicting Christ and the disciples seated on a hill; 'The Angels of the Apocalypse' (1949) depicting avenging angels hovering in the sky above Christ and intended to be hung above 'The Hill of Zion'; and 'The Resurrection, Port Glasgow' (1947-50) showing the newly resurrected climbing out of their graves in the cemetery and preparing to meet Christ for judgement. The difficulties of size and the pressure to sell the works individually resulted in this series being split up. Spencer also painted a complementary group of resurrection scenes depicting the activities of the resurrected and their rejoicing families reunited on the Day of Judgement. He intended to emphasise the joy of the Resurrection and so changed his original plan for the design of the present work. Instead of depicting the Angels of the Apocalypse poised above Christ's head with their vials of wrath to mete out punishment on those whom Christ had judged, he changed the meaning of the picture into 'one of the few compositions I have done of the Creation this being angels assisting God in fertilizing the earth with distributory seeds' (see K. Bell, loc. cit.).
The Port Glasgow Resurrection Series (1945-50) was the artist's final treatment of this theme. Seven of the works from the series of nine paintings are in public collections. 'The Resurrection: Waking Up' (1945) was sold in these Rooms on 9 March 1990, lot 300 for £770,000, producing a then world record price for a Modern British picture at auction.
A group of photographs, including Stanley Spencer at Port Glasgow, by William MacQuitty will be on view and available for purchase between Sunday, 23 November and Wednesday, 26 November.