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Lot Essay
Unveiling Cookham War Memorial, (Private Collection), 1922, (Bell 81) was commissioned, but rejected by Sir Michael Sadler. Spencer refers to the painting, 'It was intended to express the absence of hurry ... and to express the peaceful life that I visualized people could live if there were no war. This place in the picture [the edge of Cookham Moor] gives rise to a great deal of variety and circumstance ... and a good situation for the changing degrees of mood of the crowd' (see Bell, op. cit., p.407).
In 1920 Sir Michael Sadler attempted to persuade Leeds City Council to commission a series of large-scale panels from a number of young artists to decorate Leeds Town Hall; he chose Spencer, Edward Wadsworth, Albert Rutherston, Jacob Kramer, and John and Paul Nash. The commission was not carried through, however, Spencer delighted in what he saw, particularly on his second visit to Leeds; writing to his sister Florence he explains 'It would be impossible to describe the place ... Just to give you an idea what Leeds is like, I poked my head out of my bedroom window the other day and I heard people singing in another building ... I was in the worst slums most of the time. The smells were vile but it was very sad and wonderful. I am particularly keen on the washing day in the slum. I have a magnificent idea for the Leeds picture. They hang the washing on a line from the windows, and it swings forward on to some railing in front of the house' (see R. Carline, op. cit., p.122).
In 1920 Sir Michael Sadler attempted to persuade Leeds City Council to commission a series of large-scale panels from a number of young artists to decorate Leeds Town Hall; he chose Spencer, Edward Wadsworth, Albert Rutherston, Jacob Kramer, and John and Paul Nash. The commission was not carried through, however, Spencer delighted in what he saw, particularly on his second visit to Leeds; writing to his sister Florence he explains 'It would be impossible to describe the place ... Just to give you an idea what Leeds is like, I poked my head out of my bedroom window the other day and I heard people singing in another building ... I was in the worst slums most of the time. The smells were vile but it was very sad and wonderful. I am particularly keen on the washing day in the slum. I have a magnificent idea for the Leeds picture. They hang the washing on a line from the windows, and it swings forward on to some railing in front of the house' (see R. Carline, op. cit., p.122).