Stanley Spencer Gallery

The Stanley Spencer Gallery is unique, being the only gallery in Britain devoted exclusively to an artist in the village where he was born and spent most of his life. Spencer was strongly influenced by the river and his religious beliefs, and the gallery occupies the former Victorian Methodist Chapel where Spencer was taken as a child to worship.

At the end of September 2007, a year after closing for an £800,000 total refurbishment, the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham, Berkshire, reopened to the public.

The gallery opened in 1962 as a memorial to the artist Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) who had been born and worked for much of his life in the village. He now has international stature and is widely recognised as one of the most important British artists of the 20th century.

Run entirely by volunteers, the gallery holds a fine collection of more than 120 works.

SUMMER EXHIBITION: Stanley and the First Mrs Spencer
1 April 2010 - 31st October 2010

'You still are to me the most revealing person of true essential joy I know.' Despite the vicissitudes of their life together, this remained the core belief of Stanley Spencer about his first wife Hilda, who retained a key position in his emotional life.

This show marks the 60th anniversary of her death. As it demonstrates, Hilda Carline was a highly talented artist. Their life stories are illustrated by the works on display. This differs from the chronological order in which they were either drawn or painted, as apart from the portraits, much of the art was created retrospectively or filtered through Spencer's imagination.

The gallery is open Bank Holidays but closed Christmas Day.