Reviews (1)

An Indispensible book
Quite simply the best book/catalogue of it's type I have ever seen. The presentation of the book is good, as is the reproduction of the paintings. The short biographies of the artists are quite simply the brilliant, and contain more information than much longer articles. If you only have one book about late romantic art have this one. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Stanley Spencer
This is an excellent survey of the work of the English painter Stanley Spencer.It contains work from the early periods of his life that you rarely have an opportunity to see. There is a very in depth and critical veiw into the life of this great artist. The reproductions of the work are almost all in color and of high quality. This is a book that clearly shows that Spencer was that English artist who has been the inspiration of many English artist who followed him. The range of his work is truly exceptional from the religious to the nude studies and portraits of family. This is the Book that is a must to have if you are looking at figurative painting in the 20th century. It is expansive and completely beautiful. ... Read more

Book Description

Stanley Spencer`s extreme combination of the homely and the weird has baffled viewers of his paintings. In this book, MacCarthy investigates Spencer`s life, sets his work in its cultural context, and emphasizes the links between his life and his paintings. This volume provides a comprehensive account of a profoundly original artist and his work. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Best art book I've ever seen; definitive
This book is very well put together. If you like Spencer you will refer to it constantly above all other works about him (except a full length biography). There's a lot of writing about his life, and there are many, many color plates of his paintings that provide real depth of viewing what this person was about. All of this is in a pleasing font and design. The best art book I've ever seen. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An Introduction, by fermed
Duncan Robinson is a professor at Yale, and his book on Stanley Spencer is a fine introduction to this mad eccentric from Cookham-on-Thames. Not long ago (1998) there was an exhibit of Spencer's work that traveled the United States, and so his name in this country is not as unknown as it used to be. Whether one is familiar with his work or not, this is a well balanced and nicely printed book, with over 100 reproductions, of which at least half are in color. I keep the book handy and have given copies of it to unsuspecting friends and relatives, who then (usually) become addicts of Mr. Spencer.

For those who have never seen Spencer's work, I certainly recommend using the internet as a first step in getting a feel for what he biographical and bibliographical information (although Robinson's book is not mentioned). The main drawback about looking at pictures on the internet is that many are so small and distorted that they dishonor the works they are trying to show; still, a visual approach is more effective than trying to describe the work of this extraordinary painter verbally. The pictures in Robinson's book, in contrast, are excellent reproductions and quite adequate as a means of presenting Spencer's work. I took a copy of this book to his exhibit and was satisfied with the quality of the reproductions one of England's most important painters of the 20th century. ... Read more

Book Description

Stanley Spencer is recognized as a British artist of singular vision, but he was also a prolific and highly individual writer. In moments between painting, Spencer wrote thousands of letters. He filled notebooks, diaries, and scraps of paper, recording his daily thoughts and future plans in a distinctly Spencerian manner. This book brings together for the first time an extensive selection of Spencer's key letters, notes, and theoretical writings, including important sections of Spencer's autobigraphy which remained unfinished at the time of his death. Spencer always believed that his writings were as important as his paintings, and this volume offers a unique insight into Spencer as writer, thinker, and artist. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Statesman (1996), published by New Statesman, Ltd. on October 24, 1997. The length of the article is 871 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: The life of Stanley Spencer, a famous artist from Cookham, England, is discussed. Part of the uniqueness of his pictures is derived from his keen eye for background details. Most of his paintings were done in his old Victorian semi.

Citation Details
Title: Stanley Spencer's Cookham is as demure and comfy as ever, though he would probably approve of the dilapidation of his childhood home. (life of artist Stanley Spencer)
Author: Paul Barker
Publication: New Statesman (1996) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 24, 1997
Publisher: New Statesman, Ltd.
Volume: v126Issue: n4357Page: p54(1)

Article Type: Biography

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Book Description

One of the most highly regarded and well known of all twentieth-century British artists, Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) is famous for two things. He immortalized the Berkshire village of Cookham, where he was born and spent most of his life. And he celebrated sex both on his canvases and through his unconventional understanding of relationships.

Perhaps best known for his paintings of biblical subjects set in and around Cookham--in particular, The Resurrection, Cookham--Spencer was also an official war artist during both World Wars. In his paintings and in his life, he reveled in the intense ordinariness of the world he inhabited. His mature art fuses things most often thought of as separate: religion and sex, the real and the imaginary, public and private, the young and the old, the self and others.

In this excellent introduction to the artist and his work, Kitty Hauser reveals how Spencer's art grew out of places, experiences, and social relations that enriched his imagination. Though Spencer is often described as visionary, this book shows that his brand of mysticism was firmly grounded in material reality--in landscapes, homes, and the human relationships he felt so strongly.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Criterion, published by Foundation for Cultural Review on January 1, 1998. The length of the article is 931 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: "Stanley Spencer: An English Vision".(Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.)
Author: Hilton Kramer
Publication: New Criterion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 1998
Publisher: Foundation for Cultural Review
Volume: 16Issue: 5Page: 43

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Amazon.com

Painter Stanley Spencer is a biographer's dream: his art is intensely personal, reflecting real people and places from his life; the controversy surrounding his private life and work guaranteed a stream of contemporary accounts about both; moreover, he was an enthusiastic chronicler of his own intentions, leaving behind vast quantities of diaries, letters, and notes. Author Kenneth Pople has utilized the wealth of information about his subject to produce Stanley Spencer: A Biography, a scrupulously researched examination of the complicated artist. Though Spencer's art had fallen out of favor in the years following his death, Stanley, the award-winning play based on his life, has renewed public interest in the man and his work, making Pople's biography timely, indeed.

Stanley Spencer is divided into 47 chapters, each one concentrating on a specific painting, through which Pople attempts to illuminate a particular period of the artist's life.He is especially strong at analyzing the work itself, but less so at breathing life into the people who surrounded Spencer: his family, wives, mistresses, and friends. Nevertheless, Kenneth Pople has brought valuable new insights to the work of Stanley Spencer, a gift for which art lovers can be grateful. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Statesman (1996), published by New Statesman, Ltd. on April 9, 2001. The length of the article is 1077 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Stan the man.(Stanley Spencer exhibition)(Brief Article)
Author: Tom Rosenthal
Publication: New Statesman (1996) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 9, 2001
Publisher: New Statesman, Ltd.
Volume: 130Issue: 4532Page: 42

Article Type: Brief Article

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Statesman (1996), published by New Statesman, Ltd. on May 31, 1999. The length of the article is 1088 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Annie Hilda Carline was a consummate artist, yet her work has never been granted the recognition it deserves. The first wife of painter Stanley Spencer, a scrutiny of Carline's excellent work brings up the issue of what she might have produced had she never met,let alone married, Spencer.

Citation Details
Title: The wife of Cookham.(artist Annie Hilda Carline, the first wife of Stanley Spencer)
Author: John Henshall
Publication: New Statesman (1996) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 31, 1999
Publisher: New Statesman, Ltd.
Volume: 128Issue: 4438Page: 38(2)

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Washington Times, published by News World Communications, Inc. on October 12, 1997. The length of the article is 13779 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Spencer art finds the miraculous in ordinary things.(Arts)(Art)
Author: Joanna Shaw-Eagle
Publication: The Washington Times (Newspaper)
Date: October 12, 1997
Publisher: News World Communications, Inc.
Page: 4

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