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Spencer in Divine Company

(23 September 2015)


Stuart Conlin, Chairman of Trustees of the Stanley SpencerGallery, travelled to Italy last week to see two treasured paintings from the Stanley Spencer Gallery’s current exhibition safely installed for a period of around four months as part of a prestigious exhibition at the world famous Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.  The exhibition, ‘Divine Beauty – from Van Gogh to Chagal and Fontana’,  opens on 24th of this month.

The magnificent Palazzo Strozzi in Florence

Stuart Conlin commented, “The exhibition is in one of the most important spaces in Italy and will expose Spencer to large audiences of Italians and international tourists.  We can be so proud that Spencer is placed in the company of such stars as Gauguin, Van Gogh, Picasso and Matisse in terms of his standing as a painter of religious scenes.”  He added, “The whole exhibition is very beautiful, just as it needs to be in a city full of breathtaking art. The paintings from our own exhibition, interposed with a magnificent sculpture, are in a stunning setting.”  

The two paintings loaned from the Stanley Spencer Gallery, with Stuart Conlin, Chairman of the Trustees of the Stanley Spencer Gallery, who oversaw the installation.

Spencer is one of only three British artists to be included in this influential show, which examines 'modern' Christian art, mainly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  The paintings loaned from the Stanley Spencer Gallery’s ’Creative Genius’ current exhibition are the Gallery’s own renowned Spencer painting ‘The Last Supper’, 1920, and ‘Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem’, 1921, itself loaned to the Stanley Spencer Gallery by Leeds Art Gallery.

For further information see http://www.palazzostrozzi.org/mostre/divinebeauty/?lang=en

Spencer’s ‘The Last Supper’, 1920.  The dark background and subtle lighting wonderfully elicit its ethereal quality.  


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