Cookham

Cookham 1914, oil on canvas by Stanley Spencer (1891–1959).

Late summer; a view from an elevated perspective of the landscape surrounding Cookham in Berkshire. This is one of Spencer’s first pure landscape paintings and was painted direct from nature. It shows the countryside around Cookham. The view is from Terry’s Lane to Winter Hill and Rowborough from an elevated viewpoint. The red dash below the horizon is a railway signal.

The railway, which cuts across the picture, transformed this part of the Thames into a busy summer resort. Stanley’s brother, Gilbert, recalled that Terry’s Lane and the railway bridge were a popular childhood walk for the two brothers. Stanley Spencer was nicknamed ‘Cookham’ by his fellow students at the Slade School of Art in London because his art was firmly rooted in his home there.

Receiving only modest success during his lifetime, now in the twenty-first century Stanley Spencer is considered to be one of Britain's finest twentieth century artists, his fresh, unique vision throwing new light on to the eternal preoccupations of love, war, destruction and redemption.