Artworks from the Stanley Spencer family archives, many of them unpublished and unseen, are going on sale this week.
The auction, titled Kindred Spirits: The Artistic World of Sir Stanley Spencer, includes depictions of Cookham, family objects, letters, early sketchbooks, and personal artefacts.
His grandson John Spencer, the last direct descendant of the family, decided to share the family’s story following the passing of Spencer’s daughters.
This series of drawings, paintings and memorabilia will be sold at auctioneers Dreweatts’ Modern & Contemporary Art auction on Thursday, July 10.
Co-head of department for Modern and Contemporary Art, Will Porter, said it was an ‘honour’ to work with John Spencer in bringing the ‘very personal collection’ to auction.
“Stanley’s two daughters, Unity and Shirin, treasured these pieces, particularly the paintings by their mother, Hilda Carline, who was a very accomplished artist in her own right,” said Will.
“Many of these works have never been seen before, and this is the last opportunity to own something very personal from the family’s own collection.”
The sale reveals Stanley Spencer’s deep connection to Cookham parish life, as Spencer once described it as a ‘village in Heaven’.
Consigned by the Estate of Sir Stanley Spencer, the collection reflects the role of family in his art and his daughters as sources of inspiration.
It also celebrates the creative talents of those closest to him, including works by Stanley Spencer’s brother, Gilbert and his wife, Hilda Carline.
Carline’s work, Landscape with mountains, has ‘Done on occasion of Stanley’s proposal to me’ inscribed on the back.
Meanwhile, a double-sided portrait of a young girl, Shirin Spencer, by Stanley and his brother Gilbert, is another previously unpublished and unseen highlight.
Also on sale are his childhood sketchbooks, used for creative refuge from his sister’s home-schooling lessons when roaming Cookham.
Finally, Spencer’s response to the war culminated in one of his most celebrated achievements: the decoration of Sandham Memorial Chapel at Burghclere.
Alongside paintings are objects of personal memorabilia.
These include his artist’s palettes, intimate letters from Stanley to Hilda, written after their divorce, and the Bible he received on entering the 9th battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment in 1918.
In a foreword by John Spencer for the Spencer Family Collection, he said he had enjoyed ‘learning details of this complex and wonderful story’ by working with galleries and collectors.
“I grew up in the house Stanley was born in, called ‘Fernley’ in Cookham High Street,” he wrote.
“I was not really aware of the large family that came before me. It was just Mum and me.
“I was lucky enough to get to know my fabulous aunt Shirin in her last years, and Mum and I worked through some difficult times to be happy together.
“I have enjoyed having a few of Stanley and Hilda’s pictures on my walls, they are a part of me, and I have kept some of my mother Unity’s paintings.
“However, these remaining pictures by Stanley, Hilda and my family deserve to be enjoyed and find new homes.
“And I want to move on. Working with a wonderful team sharing Stanley and Hilda’s love story.”
For more information, visit Kindred Spirits: The Artistic World of Sir Stanley Spencer | Modern & Contemporary Art | 10 July 2025 | Dreweatts
