Sir Stanley Spencer R.A.

The Goupil Gallery, London, where acquired by Wilfrid A. Evill 15th April 1929 for £35.0.0, by whom bequeathed to Honor Frost in 1963

London, Goupil Gallery, Goupil Salon, 1928, cat. no.118 (as Fields at Halifax);
London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Catalogue of Part of a Collection of Oil Paintings, Water Colours, Drawings and Sculpture Belonging to W. A. Evill, Esq., December 1947 - February 1948, cat. no.4 (as The Open Gate);
Hampstead, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Catalogue of the Greater Portion of a Collection of Modern English Paintings, Water Colours, Drawings and Sculpture Belonging to W. A. Evill, March 1955, cat. no.27 (as The Open Gate);
London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Pictures, Drawings, Water Colours and Sculpture, April - May 1961, (part III- section 1) cat. no.8 (as The Gate - a Yorkshire Scene);
Brighton, Brighton Art Gallery, The Wilfrid Evill Memorial Exhibition, June - August 1965, cat. no.198 (as A Gate, Yorkshire Scene);
London, Royal Academy, Stanley Spencer RA, 20th September -14th December 1980, cat. no.120, illustrated p.120 (as A Gate, Yorkshire).

Stanley Spencer, manuscript list of paintings, 1937, TGA 733.3.12 (as Walls and Fields, Halifax);
Keith Bell, Stanley Spencer: A Complete Catalogue of Paintings, Phaidon, London, 1992, cat. no.125, illustrated p.417 (as A Gate, Yorkshire or Fields at Halifax).

The colours are less yellow and are richer than the catalogue illustration suggests. Original canvas. There are artist's pinholes in the corners. The surface has recently been cleaned and the work is generally in excellent original condition. Ultraviolet light reveals no apparent signs of retouching. Held in a gilt plaster frame with a canvas inset. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Almost certainly painted whilst staying with George Carline, Hilda's brother, who was the curator of the Bankfield Museum, Halifax from 1925-32, the view is believed to be that seen from the garden gate of Carline's house in Warley, a small village on the western outskirts of Halifax.

Painted with a wonderful simplicity of handling, Walls and Fields, Halifax demonstrates very well how Spencer was able to adapt his presentation of landscape to a very different environment, and he renders the patchwork of fields and dry-stone walls across the valley with an understanding of the subject that immediately establishes its verisimilitude to anyone familiar with the landscape of the West Riding.

Spencer's ability to render nuances of surface and atmosphere is right to the fore here, with the lush and rather dank greenery of the garden contrasting with the road and stone wall that lie beyond, warmed by the sun. The cast iron of the gate manages to convey just a certain level of neglect, one of the decorative finials bent a little to the side and the paintwork suggesting that it might need some attention before winter comes. Beyond the wall we can just make out the roofs and chimneys of the mills and factories that run along the valley bottom, yet are surrounded by open countryside.

Evill's second purchase of a Spencer painting, Walls and Fields, Halifax followed the marvellously eccentric Stinging Nettles (Private Collection) into his collection, and suggests that his taste for Spencer's work, whilst starting with landscape was already attuned to the less obviously 'pretty' subjects that were the commercial mainstay of the artist's market.