Stanley Spencer is, in my view, one of the most important painters of the 20th century.... (http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/visionary-projection-landscape-soul) ...one of the most famous and most eccentric of English painters... a key figure in the development of Figurative Art in the UK in first half of the 20th century (http://hubpages.com/art/stanley-spencer) Sir Stanley Spencer CBE RA (30 June 1891 – 14 Dec. 1959); 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 organizing multi-figure compositions such as in his large paintings for the Sandham Memorial Chapel and the Shipbuilding on the Clyde series, the former a WWI memorial while the latter was a commission for the War Artists' Advisory Committee during WWII.... Spencer's works often express his fervent if unconventional Christian faith. This is especially evident in the scenes that he based in Cookham which show the compassion that he felt for his fellow residents and also his romantic and sexual obsessions. Spencer's works originally provoked great shock and controversy. Nowadays, they still seem stylistic and experimental, while the nude works depicting his futile relationship with Patricia Preece, such as the Leg of mutton nude, foreshadow some of the much later works of Lucian Freud.... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Spencer) undefined

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