Spencer returned to live in Cookham after the war, and in the final year of his life moved back into the house where he was born. He received a diagnosis of terminal cancer in December 1958, and this was one of the last paintings he finished. “Sorrow and sadness is not for me,” were Spencer’s last words. His stalwart look and uncompromising paintwork reflect his stern determination to believe that was true. Stanley Spencer: Of Angels and Dirt The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire, from June 24th - October 5th (https://www.1843magazine.com/culture/the-daily/the-passion-of-stanley-spencer)