SOLDIERS AT THANKSGIVING SERVICE

© Estate of Stanley Spencer. All Rights Reserved 2023 / Bridgeman Images

SOLDIERS AT THANKSGIVING SERVICE 1918

Sir Stanley Spencer (1891 – 1959)

Details

Dimension
54 X 53.5 CM
Media
WASH ON PAPER - SQUARED UP FOR ENLARGEMENT
Accession number
P2742

Summary

Spencer had enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps at the outbreak of World War, and was posted to Macedonia. The inactivity at the Front made Spencer restless and he volunteered, and was accepted, for the infantry regiment 7th Battalion the Royal Berkshires. In May 1917 he was appointed a war artist and it was suggested that he paint a picture ‘under some such title as A Religious Service at the Front'. However due to poor communications Spencer stayed at the front and only fulfilled the commission after his return to his home in Cookham in 1919. This drawing was most likely a study for a painting on the theme suggested by the Ministry of Information. The drawing has been squared up for enlargement on to the canvas, although there does not appear to be any finished work of the same subject in the Spencer catalogue raisonné, but the artist frequently made use of old studies turning to them when inspiration was lacking or when they fitted into a new scheme.