Newsletter

Spring 2021

President: Dr James Fox Vice-president: Miss Shirin Spencer An organisation within the Stanley Spencer Memorial Fund, registered charity no 307989 Patron: Lord Richard Harries of Pentregarth, formerly Bishop of Oxford

Gallery will feature in Jane McDonald’s new series

I was delighted to be asked by the Stanley Spencer Gallery to be their spokesperson in the filming of one episode of Jane MacDonald’s new Channel 5 travel series, Cruising along the Thames. It was explained that Jane would be visiting the area, starting at in Taplow and venturing along the Thames to before finishing the filming in Henley.

I have followed Jane’s TV career since The Cruise documentary series back in 1998. Since then, she Jane McDonald outside the Gallery has achieved international success with her singing history and the current exhibition theme. Jane career along with further overseas travel was genuinely interested in the Gallery and documentaries. She has gained many dedicated Stanley’s life, especially his complicated fans, who love her down-to-earth, friendly personal life. She informed me that during the personality. pandemic the film crew had formed ‘bubbles’

and had daily Covid tests. She added that not So on a bright being able to film abroad, it seemed an ideal autumn day in opportunity to focus on our Great British October last waterways. Then, after our introductory chat year, I and fellow about the Gallery, it was ‘Action’! Gallery staff waited with great Some very perceptive questions were made by anticipation to Jane and she seemed intrigued to hear about greet the film Stanley’s love life. After filming she was happy crew. On arrival to pose for several ‘selfies’ outside the Gallery the production and said that this visit had been the most manager asked enjoyable part of her Thames journey so far. me to chat with Sally Atkins Jane and her

entourage about Sally Atkins filming inside the Jane McDonald’s ‘Cruising along the Thames’ Stanley Spencer Gallery the Gallery, its will be broadcast on Channel 5 in Spring 2021.

Hon. Secretary: Sue Mahoney, 7 Sleekstone Cottages, Grange Road , Cookham, Berks SL6 9TG . Email: [email protected]

Page 2 SpringJune 2021 2014 June 2014

Rebel, eccentric or celebrity? The public image of Stanley Spencer

Which of the photographs on this page matches the picture you have in your mind’s eye of Stanley Spencer?

They are, of course, all of the artist, but each one projects a very different image. The archive at the Stanley Spencer Gallery

contains many when he made a two-part film for the BBC about photographs, which have Spencer at home and at war. been used over the years

in publications, TV, films, At the same time, members of the press were and for our own fascinated by Stanley Spencer - his colourful exhibition, education, access and talks lifestyle, controversial views and paintings made programmes. They add a different dimension to very good copy and his seeming total disregard the Spencer story, but also prompt questions for his own appearance provided wonderful about the public face of the artist and the way photo opportunities of an eccentric, dishevelled he was often portrayed in the papers. artist. How surprised people must have been In his own lifetime Stanley Spencer had become when an elegant, overcoated Stanley Spencer something of a media celebrity. In 1944 he appeared in Vogue, and was also photographed starred in ‘Out of Chaos’, Jill Craigie’s ground- by Ida Kar - a Bohemian photographer of the day breaking documentary film about the art of the well-known for capturing iconic images of Second World War – his antics in the Port cutting-edge artists. shipyards featuring alongside Henry Moore in the London Underground, Paul Nash at How much Stanley Spencer himself had to do Cowley Dump and making his with the creation and promotion of his own

debut in front of the camera. image, it is hard to tell. Although totally sincere in his artistic vision, he was in the business of When he was re- selling paintings - aided professionally and admitted to the RA in personally by his agent Dudley Tooth. There is 1950, a Pathé newsreel, however no doubt he will have been aware of ‘Royal Academy Take how others saw and portrayed him, and played Back Old Rebel’, up to it with typical Spencer humour! portrayed a caricature of

him and his lifestyle. A

much more measured Ann Danks approach was taken by

John Read in 1956

Hon. Secretary: Sue Mahoney, 7 Sleekstone Cottages, Grange Road, Cookham, Berks SL6 9TG. Email: [email protected]

Spring 2021 Page 3

The Registrar materials which will preserve the In the fifth of a series about the people who help to works for future run the Gallery, Dick Brealey talks to Clare Mitchell. generations. RAB I don’t really know what the registrar does – RAB How about the dictionary just says you keep the register. our new drawing? CM That is just about it. We maintain a register of CM That’s in good all the works in the Gallery, including those on shape, though the long- and short-term loans. Each work is assigned backing paper its own unique number, called an accession number, needs replacing. I and is recorded along with its dimensions, medium, can do that, as I’m Clare Mitchell, on the River provenance, how we acquired it, its condition, also a framer! Thames at Cookham valuation and so on. RAB I guess there is not too much we can do if the RAB Presumably some of this is needed for drawing itself is on acidic paper. insurance purposes. CM That is a problem, but a good paper CM Yes, the valuations have to be revised every 3-5 conservator can definitely bring things back to life. years to make sure we have them completely During the war, Spencer had to use very inferior covered, and this goes for the loans too. paper: some of his sketches were even on toilet RAB I believe you are in the Gallery today because paper. Today, these are almost impossible to view one of the pictures on loan is being picked up. due to their fragility and the need to keep their CM I am! One of the works on short-term loan is exposure to light to the bare minimum. going back to its owner so I am here to carry out a RAB What about the paintings? These must involve a condition check, complete with photos, to make different set of problems. sure it is leaving us the way it came in. CM About six years ago we reframed and reglazed RAB Accreditation is very important to the Gallery. our pictures with non-reflective glass, so they are Do you get involved with that? much better protected than they used to be. CM Yes, in particular I work with Peter Brown and Paintings can be pretty robust to light but David Pinniger to produce the Facilities Report that fluctuations in temperature and humidity can take provides assurance about our security, temperature, their toll over time. humidity and lighting systems. RAB All that sounds a pretty full-time job, but I RAB And I know you have a lot of experience in know you have several other “pretty full-time jobs.” keeping paintings and drawings in good condition. CM Yes, I am the Curator of Art at Southampton CM I have worked with many different collections, City Art Gallery. I am also the Collections Manager so I have gained a lot of experience. Works on paper for the Alphonse Mucha Foundation and I do quite a are very susceptible to damage caused by too much lot of work, including heritage supervision, for the light and even by the materials they are framed and Palace of Westminster. In addition, I have my own mounted in. Two years ago, we were successful in picture framing business. receiving a grant, which was matched by the RAB Clare, you probably know better than most Friends, to undertake a project to upgrade those people the works in the Gallery’s collection. Do you works which were poorly framed. This allowed us to have a favourite? remove all acidic mounts and replace them with a CM That’s a horrible question. I guess it’s the Last museum-grade board, replace acidic backboards Supper – I love all those feet. But ask me again and upgrade the glazing with UV filtering glass - all tomorrow and you will get a different answer!

Hon. Secretary: Sue Mahoney, 7 Sleekstone Cottages, Grange Road, Cookham, Berks SL6 9TG. Email: [email protected]

Page 4 Spring 2021

Spring is coming – and we’ll soon be open again

The latest Government guidelines project Monday 17 May as the date when galleries will re-open. Our popular, but much disrupted exhibition, Love, Art Loss: The Wives of Stanley Spencer, will continue to be open seven days a week from 17 May throughout the summer.

During the long months of enforced closure, the Gallery’s volunteers have been keeping busy behind the scenes. The website’s design and The Month of March - Spring Cleaning 1926 content has been refreshed, and we are planning to feature a different drawing each month from Chrissy Rosenthal has been transferring recorded the 1927 Chatto & Windus Almanack, in which interviews with those who knew Spencer into Spencer’s drawing, Spring Cleaning, (right) was digital format for safekeeping and archiving one of two illustrations for the month of March. purposes. Last but not least, we have been Our archivist, Ann Danks, has been assisting negotiating some exciting medium- and long- authors and academics with their research, term loans from major galleries and private liaising with film-makers and other galleries, as collectors for display in our future exhibitions. well as cataloguing new acquisitions to the Keep checking our website and social media posts Gallery’s extensive archives. for the most up-to-date Gallery information.

Annual General Meeting 2021 future Friends’ events, so all is not lost! The

Zoom meeting will not include a talk, but will In view of the continuing lockdown restrictions, simply cover the formal AGM requirements. the Friends’ AGM will be held on Zoom this year. The minutes will be published on our If you would like to join the meeting, which will website in due course. be held at 7.30pm on Friday 26 March, please email the Secretary in advance on [email protected] Subscription renewals and the link will be sent to you. Previous minutes Renewal invitations have been sent to can be found in the Friends’ section of the Friends whose memberships expired in Gallery’s website: 2020, but some people have yet to reply. www.stanleyspencer.org.uk Please could you check your Spam folders Whilst it is disappointing that we have had to for Friends’ communications, and let us cancel our annual meetings in 2020 and 2021, know if you are having problems in the good news is that both of our guest speakers receiving our emails and newsletters. - author and our President,

Dr James Fox - have agreed to give their talks at

Hon. Secretary: Sue Mahoney, 7 Sleekstone Cottages, Grange Road, Cookham, Berks SL6 9TG. Email: [email protected]