A crow fell down the chimney at Fernlea on Cookham High Street, flapped around the room, flew out of the window and Stanley Spencer was born. The date was June 30th 1891 – and the family thought it was a good omen. He was the eighth surviving child of Annie and William Spencer, and he was joined a year later by his younger brother Gilbert…
This beautiful and tender drawing depicts Stanley’s wife Hilda. Spencer worked on this drawing and other pencil studies of Hilda in the evenings, while painting the Sandham Memorial Chapel at Burghclere…