Date: Thursday 5 September 2024
Time:  11.00 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.
Who can attend: Society members and their guests
Cost: £60
Dress code: informal
Venues:  Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham and Bel & Dragon pub
Contact: drkieranmchugh@aol.com
To book tickets: CLICK HERE
Bookings close:  23 August 2024

Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if in Cookham, the small village beside the River Thames where he was born and spent much of his life. Spencer referred to Cookham as “a village in Heaven” and in his biblical scenes, fellow villagers are shown as their Gospel counterparts. Spencer was skilled at organising multi-figure compositions such as in his large paintings for the Sandham Memorial Chapel and the Shipbuilding on the Clyde series, the former being a First World War memorial while the latter was a commission for the War Artists’ Advisory Committee during the Second World War (in the Imperial War Museum).

The tour will begin at the Stanley Spencer Gallery at 11am. It will consist of half the group having a guided tour of the Gallery for one hour with the other half getting a guided tour of the areas of Cookham relevant to Spencer’s paintings. The groups will then cross over and do the other tour. Lunch will be at 1pm, a two-course affair across the street at the Bel & Dragon gastropub. There is a small carpark near the Gallery and other parking around the village.  The Cookham branch railway line connects at Maidenhead with the Reading/Paddington line.  The Gallery is a level 10-minute walk from the station.

For the flyer and more information: CLICK HERE