Lot 90
  • 90

SIR STANLEY SPENCER, R.A. | Portrait of Daphne Charlton

Estimate
12,000 - 15,000 GBP
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Description

  • Sir Stanley Spencer, R.A.
  • Portrait of Daphne Charlton
  • charcoal on paper
  • 50.5 by 33.5cm.; 20 by 13¼in.
  • Executed circa 1939-43.

Provenance

Arthur Tooth & Sons
The family of the present owner and thence by descent

Condition

The sheet is adhered with the mount with two tabs of adhesive tape. There is some rounding and light creasing to all four corners, and some small nicks to all four edges. There is time staining to the sheet, most visible in line with the present and, possibly, a previous mount. There is surface dirt and studio matter throughout. There is evidence of perished adhesive on the reverse of the sheet. This excepting the work appears to be in very good condition with strong passages of pencil. The work is window mounted and held behind glass within a simple wooden frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

We are grateful to Carolyn Leder for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work and the below note.  The artist Daphne Charlton (1909-1991) was to play an important role in the emotional life of Stanley Spencer. Considerably taller than Spencer, and eighteen years his junior, they had an affair in which she did much to care for him and restore his spirits after his divorce and disastrous second marriage. In June 1939 he was living alone in London when he went to stay with Daphne and George Charlton in Hampstead and then accompanied them on a painting holiday to Leonard Stanley, Gloucestershire. They stayed on after the outbreak of the Second World War. George was a teacher of painting and drawing at the Slade School of Art (and Daphne’s former tutor). From October, he spent several days a week in Oxford to which the Slade had been evacuated, and Stanley and Daphne had freedom for their affair. In May 1940 Spencer went to Port Glasgow to start work as an Official War Artist. Although he returned to Leonard Stanley from time to time, he was not to live there again, and the affair was largely over. Stanley and Daphne, however, remained in touch for the rest of his life. She even talked of an unrealised plan for her to keep house for him in Cookham.

Possessed of a confident, high-spirited personality, Daphne was portrayed by a number of artists, including herself and her husband George. Stanley Spencer painted two portraits of her: the striking Daphne 1940 (Tate) in which she wears a chic black hat purchased by the artist in New Bond Street and the later more sober Daphne Charlton (Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal). In both works, she looks directly at the viewer, whereas in this delightfully informal drawing, she is captured in a moment of quiet introspection, leaning forward on to her left hand and gazing sideways. Her wedding ring is clearly visible. There is a tender sympathy between artist and sitter.

Daphne also featured prominently in Spencer’s Scrapbook drawings, made in a series of children’s scrapbooks he purchased during their affair. He kept the frequently autobiographical compositions for the rest of his life, making a number of paintings from them. Daphne featured in a group of paintings by Spencer (which he referred to as his ‘Daphne series’), including eight derived from the Scrapbook drawings. They were intended by Spencer for a never-to-be-built Church-House, a hoped-for successor to his Sandham Memorial Chapel at Burghclere. Amongst other things, the Church-House was to contain chapels dedicated to five women in his life, including his ‘Daphne Memorial’.