From 23 March 2024 a selection of Gilbert Spencer’s work will be on display at Abbot Hall in Kendal. This is the first significant exhibition dedicated to the artist at a public gallery in over 50 years.
Gilbert Spencer (1892-1979) was a British painter, muralist, illustrator, teacher and writer, whose career spanned more than six decades. He was appreciated during his own lifetime as one of the leading artists of his generation alongside his brother Stanley Spencer. Both brothers attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London.
Highlighting many aspects of the artist’s long and successful career, the exhibition will showcase rarely seen works that demonstrate his immense skill as a portrait painter, illustrator and observer of rural life. He was an artist who relished painting outdoors, and his beautifully observed landscapes helped reinvigorate the landscape tradition in 20th century British painting. Alongside his art practice, Gilbert Spencer taught at Camberwell School of Art, Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art (RCA).
It was while teaching at the RCA that Spencer and fellow professors and students were evacuated from London to Ambleside during the Second World War. As well as making a distinct impression on the local community, some of the students and staff, including Spencer, joined the local Home Guard. This experience provided inspiration for a number of important paintings and works on paper, including the humorous Grasmere Guard watercolour series which demonstrates Spencer’s immense wit and skills as an illustrator. For this exhibition, Lakeland Arts worked with Ambleside-based researcher Deborah Walsh and artist Russell Mills who have researched this local story extensively.
Lakeland Arts organised the exhibition in partnership with Liss Llewellyn Gallery in London. Founded in 1991 by Paul Liss and Sacha Llewellyn, Liss Llewellyn are exhibition organisers, publishers and Fine Art dealers specialising in the unsung heroines and heroes of British art from 1880 to 1980. The exhibition and related public programme are generously supported by James and Annabel Salter, new donors for Abbot Hall and Lakeland Arts.
Bringing together paintings, preparatory studies, watercolours and archive material from the full extent of Gilbert Spencer’s remarkable career, the exhibition coincides with the publication of an important new monograph on the artist, written by Professor Paul Gough ‘Gilbert Spencer: The Life and Work of a Very English Artist,’ (published by Yale University Press). Gilbert Spencer has long been overshadowed by his more famous older brother, Stanley. This exhibition will give visitors the opportunity to reassess Gilbert Spencer’s status as a significant figure in 20th century British art.
Nick Rogers, Curator of the exhibition for Lakeland Arts states, “We are excited to display an incredible selection of Spencer’s most accomplished work at Abbot Hall. Through this exhibition we hope to shine a spotlight on the artist and provide a platform for his work to be set apart from his more famous brother, Stanley Spencer. We hope to connect local audiences to the stories presented in the work, particularly to the period Spencer and his students were exiled to Cumbria during the Second World War.”
There will be two public events taking place alongside the exhibition, including a talk and book signing with Professor Paul Gough on 23 March and a talk with Russell Mills uncovering the story of the RCA students and their time in the Lake District on 9 May.
In association with Liss Llewellyn Gallery and generously supported by James and Annabel Salter.
Included with gallery admission. Exhibition and talk tickets are available to prebook online at www.abbothall.org.uk
Gallery admission includes access to all displays and exhibitions on show, including the Collection Galleries and Claude Cahun: Beneath this Mask. Claude Cahun: Beneath this Mask opens on the same date as the Gilbert Spencer exhibition on 23 March 2024.
