Stanley Spencer

Rating:
Summary: An Introduction, by fermed
Review: 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.