The Holy and the Habitual
British Artists of the 20th. Century show features Stanley Spencer, one of the greatest religious artists of the era
Reviewed by Terry Monagle
The National Gallery of Victoria has had an exhibition of British artists of the 20th century. To my great delight, Stanley Spencer, one of the greatest religious artists of the century is represented by about 20 paintings. The paintings in the exhibition all come from Australian galleries and holdings. The notes to the exhibition say that Spencer, of the artists in the exhibition, is the most widely collected in Australia.
There are very good Spencers in most of the major galleries in Australia, and it is a treat to see them all in the one room. The Spencer representation includes nine pieces from the Christ in the Wilderness series from the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
These include, The Eagles, Christ and the Scorpion, Consider the Lilies, the Mother Hen, and the Foxes have holes. These paintings date from the 40’s into the 50’s.
Spencer was going through a very difficult time in his life, was isolated in a tiny London flat. Moved by the thought of Christ spending 40 days in the wilderness, he set out to do a panel, each about 70cms, by 70cms, to depict what Christ might have done for each of the fourty days. There are nine of these panels in the exhibition.
In each, Christ, a big burly figure, wears a simple cream robe, has a beard and dark curly hair. He has great physical power, but with a child like face. Spencer manages to wrap this powerful body into each of the canvasses. He has him sitting contemplating with great gentleness, and interest the scorpions, the foxes, and the hen and its chickens. He is on all fours peering at the lilies. He almost has his arm around the foxes, he is content and calm as the eagles tear at the carcass of a deer. He is perfectly at home and part of nature.
The power of these paintings comes from also from their metaphorical implications. He holds the dangerous scorpion in the palm of his hand. Does the scorpion stand for us, and yet he loves us though we can sting him? Does it show us how we should contemplate our own shadow sides and our mistakes, our guilt, and how we should share them with Christ? The simple narratives of the pictures evoke some deep theology. They can make us feel closer to Christ.
He has a lovely depiction called, Parents’ Resurrection, which shows the re-unification of husbands and wives as they emerge from their graves on the last day. There are sketches, akin to this painting, which are precursors of Spencer’s great work, The Resurrection at Cookham which hands along a wall at the Old Tate in London. This painting is about joy, in the conquering of death. It is one of the greatest religious paintings of the century. Cookham is an English village where Spencer had lived.
We get a further glimpse of that work in the best painting in this show, Christ in Cookham, from the years, 51-52. Christ sits in an armchair, indifferent, calm, relaxed on what looks like a village common. Arrayed in rows, to his right are the apostles; these burly men look as though they are the local football team sitting for the team photo. Some villagers kneel to the left of Christ, in worship, but not in a pious haze. It is a depiction of the holy as the habitual. This front half of the picture is all peace and calm but in the background is a swirl of movement, children are playing hopscotch and swinging on gates. The tonings of the picture including the footy jumpers of the muscly apostles are in a range of brown and green..
It’s a mystery why the villagers would kneel to worship Christ, because looking at him, with his head averted from them, there is nothing to indicate any deep wisdom, let alone divinity. Somehow the villagers have recognised him, but it’s not because of how he looks, nor is he saying or doing anything, and yet they can see what the viewer of the picture can’t. How do they see?
The catalogue features Spencer, and gives the background to his life and interesting theology. The exhibition lasts till February, but it would be sad if East Coasters missed the treasures, especially the Christ in the Wilderness series, that have come over to us from the West.