Berkshire’s Most Famous Artist Celebrated At LVS Ascot Next Week
05 Dec 2016
Berkshire’s most famous artist and one of the top painters Britain has ever produced will be celebrated next week at LVS Ascot. Sir Stanley Spencer becomes the focus of the school’s latest free to attend Smalley Lecture on Tuesday 22nd November as part of the school’s commitment to the arts.
The independent all-ability school’s 300-seat theatre has already staged lectures on human space flight, the history of brewing, analysis of world leaders’ speeches and climate change and the collapse of societies this year, and this latest offering will provide Berkshire residents with a glimpse into the county’s cultural past. The Smalley Lectures provide an innovative way to inspire LVS Ascot students, and delivers a refreshing approach to independent education whereby local people can enjoy sharing insights into a range of interesting and thought-provoking subjects alongside the school’s pupils.
Sir Stanley Spencer (1891 – 1959) was one of the most original artists of the twentieth century. He was famous for portrayals of biblical events as if they were taking place in his native village of Cookham, showing fellow villagers as their Gospel counterparts. Stanley was also an official war artist and painted ‘Travoys Arriving with Wounded at a Dressing-Station’ (1919, now at the Imperial War Museum) and the Sandham Memorial Chapel at Burghclere near Newbury, one of the greatest of all war memorials with murals depicting his life in the army. Stanley was also a fine painter of landscapes and portraits, and art.
Historian Ann Danks will provide fascinating insight into the artist’s life at the free lecture which begins at 7pm on Tuesday 22nd November.
LVS Ascot teacher Andy Clark who runs the Smalley Lecture programme said: “Our Smalley Lectures provide a really inspiring way to educate students, stretching their imaginations and making them think about topics from science to the arts and ecology in a different way through guest speakers who bring the topics to life. They are so good we welcome the opportunity to involve the whole community in them, and would be delighted to greet members of the general public to find out more about their county’s most famous artist”.
The next Smalley Lecture, again free to attend to the general public, is on 6th December and is titled ‘Composer Andy Quin: Christmas and Jazz’. For more information on the series of lectures or to book a place at them, google Smalley Lectures.
LVS Ascot also provides a series of lectures just for sixth formers called the Larby Lectures, introducing students to topics beyond and outside their normal academic subjects and exposing them to different cultures.
Photo: Artist Stanley Spencer at work