Search
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.

Glossary

  • Canvas

    A piece of cloth woven from flax, hemp or cotton fibres. The word has generally come to refer to any piece of firm, loosely woven fabric used to paint on. Its surface is typically prepared for painting by priming with a ground.

  • Drawing

    The depiction of shapes and forms on a flat surface chiefly by means of lines although colour and shading may also be included. Materials most commonly used are pencil, ink, crayon, charcoal, chalk and pastel, although other materials, including paint, can be used in combination.

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.