The Lovers or The Dustman by Stanley Spencer - Case Study Example

Client Client Stanley Spencer: The Lovers or The Dustman Stanley Spencer was born in a villa d Fernlea on June 30th 1891 in the village of Cookham. It is said that “On that day a crow fell down the chimney of the living room and flapped about until released. The family thought it a good omen.” (Pople) Stanley was the tenth child and the eighth to survive for Annie and William Spencer. While brought up in a lower-middle class atmosphere, his father had the mind to teach art and music, thus creating well-rounded educations for his children. They were instilled with the value of education and were encouraged to learn and converse in a wide range of topics. Of his education: Stanley, even if largely self-tutored, was more widely read than many of his critics and commentators. In fact it can be argued that he was primarily a sensitive thinker whose devotion to art was the most effective means at his disposal of reflecting his metaphysical ideas, an attitude making him difficult at times to classify in the traditional pantheon of art. A CBE in the 1950s, Stanley was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by Southampton University towards the close of his life in 1959. Three days later he received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace.( Pople) The Lovers or The Dustman is an outstanding piece of work created by Stanley Spencer in 1934. The piece, which is owned by the Stanley Spencer Estate and is currently on display at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle Upon Tyne, is a richly detailed Client Last Name 2 artwork with layers of meaning and depth. Looking at the piece one is drawn into it’s complexity and energy. The superficial experience brings a very defined view of village life. One sees by the nature of the organization of the figures the close knit comfort of those who actively engage in the lives of neighbors. The piece brings a sense of a chaotic moment in the lives of these villagers as they focus on a spectacle and one can see the beginnings of judgment and wonder on their faces. On closer inspection we see that the figures near the bottom are offering gifts of garbage which are according to a critical essay by Don Gray, “despite Spencers disavowal, ironic substitutes for gold, frankincense and myrrh, a fitting welcome to the new Christ by a non-believing, materialist age.” (Gray) The theme of The Lovers or The Dustman is the resurrection of common workers, specifically garbage men and dustmen. Spencer interpreted this piece by saying “"...The joy of his (the dustmans) bliss is spiritual in his union with his wife who carries him in her arms and experiences the bliss of union with his corduroy trousers...They are gazed at by other reuniting wives of old laborers who are in ecstasy at the contemplation that they are reuniting and are about to enter their homes."(Gray) In this piece one can see a perspective of the female mind as they look on the reunion contemplating their own abilities to survive without these men in their lives. They have been “doing quite nicely without them thank you”, (Gray) as Gray puts it. One must wonder if this was influenced by Spencer’s relationship with Patricia Preece who was in turn involved in a lesbian affair with Dorothy Hepworth. While he was still currently married to his wife Hilda Carline in 1934, it was in this year that his affections Client Last Name 3 for Patricia Preece began to develop. The woman represent to some degree the judgment that Stanley felt from those who did not approve of this developing romance. As well, one might also see the independence of woman from their need of men represented by the woman of the painting as he embarked on a relationship with a woman who was in love with another woman. Spencer would say of this piece that: I feel, in this Dustman picture, that it is like watching and experiencing the inside of a sexual experience. They are all in a state of anticipation and gratitude to each other. They are each to the other, and all to any one of them, as peaceful as the privacy of a lavatory. I cannot feel anything is Heaven where there is any forced exclusion of any sexual desire... The picture is to express a joy of life through intimacy. All the signs and tokens of home life, such as the cabbage leaves and teapot which I have so much loved that I have had them resurrected from the dustbin because they are reminders of home life and peace, and are worthy of being adored as the dustman is. I only like to paint what makes me feel happy. As a child I was always looking on rubbish heaps and dustbins with a feeling of wonder. I like to feel that, while in life things like pots and brushes and clothes etc may cease to be used, they will in some way be reinstated, and in this Dustman picture I try to express something of this wish and need I feel for things to be restored. That is the feeling that makes the children take out the broken teapot and empty jam tin. (Pople) The Lovers or The Dustman is an allegorical piece using representational imagery. Spencer did not seek to join the abstractionists and “made every effort to disavow the abstraction and to reconnect modern painting to its European traditions, as did the painters of the new realism in Germany, the muralists in Mexico, and many members of the School in Paris.” (Brettell, pg 111) However, this piece does represent a new avenue in Spencer’s career. This piece was a new found freedom of expression for the artist.“ It was to signal a turning point in his art as the first of a series he later called his sex- Client’s Last Name 4 pictures (although in retrospect he once referred to The Cookham Resurrection as the first.) This did not mean that these coming paintings necessarily portrayed sex, but rather that for the first time in his career Stanley felt free to openly use more private sexual feelings to reach into the imaginative and the visionary.” (Pople) The whimsical nature of the story told coupled with the religious overtones represent a dichotomy of experience that can lend itself to the newness and emotional evolution that is portrayed in the piece. In 1935 Spencer submitted three paintings to the Royal Academy and The Lovers or The Dustman was one of two that were rejected. Because of the anger he felt for this decision he chose to resign from the Academy. This rejection of non-realist art was also the position of the Communist Party, which was promoting Social Realism. Spencer’s religious symbolism would have been unacceptable to the Communist Party and the circles it influenced. This general mood towards realism no doubt contributed to the rejection of Spencer’s 1934 painting The Dustman (or the Lovers) by the Royal Academy because of its “distortions and peculiarity”—brought about by Spencer’s attempts to show a dustman “transported to heaven while in the execution of his duty”. He resigned as a result. (Mitchell) “In 1936, Spencer wrote about his Burghclere murals depicting the resurrection of World War I soldiers, "I have avoided any too unpleasant scene...because in this scheme, as in all my paintings, I wish to stress my own redemption from all that I have been made to suffer."(Gray) One can see that despite the sadness that can be experienced in life, Spencer chose to see the world through a compassionate, but amused eye. The compelling story told with its use of the mildly profane and the thoughtful naiveté draws the viewer gently into his complex world provoking thought and wonder. Client’s Last Name 5 Works Cited Brettell, Richard R. [1999]. Modern Art 1851-1929. Hong Kong. Oxford University Press. Gray, Don. [1983]. Stanley Spencer, English Visionary. CDS Gallery, New York City. [Internet]. [28,October 2008]. Pople, Kenneth. The Art and Vision of Stanley Spencer. [Internet]. [28,October 2008]. 4 DECRIBE THE WORK- PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED, THEIR APPLICATION, DIMENTIONS/SCALE, THE ORIGINAL PRESENTATION OR USE OF THE WORK. 6. IN WHAT WAY WAS THIS PARTICULAR WORK SIGNIFICANT IN THE ARTISTS PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. The Lovers or The Dustman is an allegorical piece using representational imagery. Spencer did not seek to join the abstractionists and “made every effort to disavow the abstraction and to reconnect modern painting to its European traditions, as did the painters of the new realism in Germany, the muralists in Mexico, and many members of the School in Paris.” (Brettell, pg 111) However, this piece does represent a new avenue in Spencer’s career. This piece was a new found freedom of expression for the artist.“ It was to signal a turning point in his art as the first of a series he later called his sex- Client’s Last Name 4 pictures (although in retrospect he once referred to The Cookham Resurrection as the first.) This did not mean that these coming paintings necessarily portrayed sex, but rather that for the first time in his career Stanley felt free to openly use more private sexual feelings to reach into the imaginative and the visionary.” (Pople) The whimsical nature of the story told coupled with the religious overtones represent a dichotomy of experience that can lend itself to the newness and emotional evolution that is portrayed in the piece. 7. HOW WAS THE WOK RECEIVED BY THE PUBLIC AND THE CRITICS WHEN IT WAS FIRST DISPLAYED In 1935 Spencer submitted three paintings to the Royal Academy and The Lovers or The Dustman was one of two that were rejected. Because of the anger he felt for this decision he chose to resign from the Academy. This rejection of non-realist art was also the position of the Communist Party, which was promoting Social Realism. Spencer’s religious symbolism would have been unacceptable to the Communist Party and the circles it influenced. This general mood towards realism no doubt contributed to the rejection of Spencer’s 1934 painting The Dustman (or the Lovers) by the Royal Academy because of its “distortions and peculiarity”—brought about by Spencer’s attempts to show a dustman “transported to heaven while in the execution of his duty”. He resigned as a result. (Mitchell) 8. OUTLINE THE SOCIAL POLITCAL OR HISTORIC CONTEXTS WHICH YOU FEEL ARE SIGNIFCANT IN UNDERSTANDING THIS WORK. . One must wonder if this was influenced by Spencer’s relationship with Patricia Preece who was in turn involved in a lesbian affair with Dorothy Hepworth. While he was still currently married to his wife Hilda Carline in 1934, it was in this year that his affections Client Last Name 3 for Patricia Preece began to develop. The woman represent to some degree the judgment that Stanley felt from those who did not approve of this developing romance. and “made every effort to disavow the abstraction and to reconnect modern painting to its European traditions, as did the painters of the new realism in Germany, the muralists in Mexico, and many members of the School in Paris.” (Brettell, pg 111) “In 1936, Spencer wrote about his Burghclere murals depicting the resurrection of World War I soldiers, "I have avoided any too unpleasant scene...because in this scheme, as in all my paintings, I wish to stress my own redemption from all that I have been made to suffer."(Gray) One can see that despite the sadness that can be experienced in life, Spencer chose to see the world through a compassionate, but amused eye. The compelling story told with its use of the mildly profane and the thoughtful naiveté draws the viewer gently into his complex world provoking thought and wonder. Read More