Sir Stanley Spencer, R.A. (1891-1959)

Details

Sir Stanley Spencer, R.A. (1891-1959)

Study of The Resurrection of Soldiers, Burghclere

oil and pencil on paper
11¼ x 19½in. (28.5 x 49cm)

Painted circa 1927

Provenance

Norman and Barbara Ireland-Smith, by whom purchased from the Leicester Galleries exhibition, November, 1942
Mrs Isobel Powys Marks
Blond Fine Art, London, where purchased by the present owner

Literature

K. Bell, Stanley Spencer A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, London, 1992, no.120, p.414 (illustrated)

Exhibited

London, Leger Galleries, The Early Work of Stanley Spencer, Mar. 1939, no.8, as 'Soldiers Among Mules'
London, Leicester Galleries, Exhibition of Works by Stanley Spencer, Nov. 1942, no.7
London, Royal Academy, Sir Stanley Spencer R.A., Sept. - Dec. 1980, no.100

Lot Essay

'A study for the central section of The Resurrection of Soldiers, 1928-9, on the altar wall of the Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere. It is a recollection of Spencer's wartime service in Macedonia, and shows a soldier and two mules killed when their limber was hit by a shell. Spencer, however, depicted them on Resurrection day, which he imagined taking place there. Spencer explained that the man resurrecting between the mules was experiencing the same cosy feeling he had had as a child, when he slept between his parents after a bad dream ... there seems little doubt that the painting was made as a study for the altar wall at Burghclere, probably around the time Spencer began his revised version of the subject circa 1927. This is supported by the appearance of the mules who have turned their heads to look at Christ who is placed behind them in the Resurrection of Soldiers composition'
(K. Bell, loc. cit.)

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