Stanley Spencer and Cookham

Yesterday in the rain and chill (yes!  the weather has cured me of any idea of staying in London in the winter--EVER), we made a trip to Cookham-on-Thames, a small, charming village where the painter Stanley Spencer lived most of his life (1891-1959).

I've been taken by this funny little man (short and with a pixie cut and big glasses) ever since I saw a huge retrospective of his work at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco in the late '90's.  Highly detailed, wry landscapes of Cookham scenes, plus portrayals of Bible stories set in Cookham, at regattas, at baptisms, etc.  His version of religion was very much at hand, woven into the daily life of the village.

And then there's his personal story:  he married a fellow-art student at the Slade, had two daughters, and then became infatuated with a woman named Patricia Preece, who was a lesbian.  No matter--he divorced his long-suffering and none-too-stable wife, and married Preece, whose sole attendant at the wedding was her partner, Dorothy.  Ultimately, Spencer's ex-wife joined them on their honeymoon and shared his bed, and  Patricia and Dorothy shared another.


But it's not the gossip but the paintings that send me. I have a big book about Spencer at home, but that didn't stop me from buying numerous postcards of my favorites. (Photos to follow.)

After visiting the gallery, we went across the street to the Bel & the Dragon, a pub with good food and a sensational garden (abandoned to the rain).  We debated taking the walk around town that the gallery recommended, a guide to sites that Spencer painted, but it was so cold (in the '40's) and wet, that we bagged it, called a taxi, and rode back to Maidenhead and the train station where we could catch a train back to London.

This trek has been on my list since 2008, and we finally made it!  Some sun would have been good, but there you are.

Today it's sunny and we're off to Kew.  Last night we watched a TV special on the Chelsea Flower Show, just finished, and it whetted my appetite for all things English and floral.