Museum visitors at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham can now witness live conservation work on one of the 20th century's most significant unfinished paintings. The exhibition, titled "Revealing Genius, Conserving Art: Stanley Spencer's Final Masterpiece," features "Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta," a work that occupied the renowned British artist for more than a decade but remained incomplete when Spencer died in 1959.
The massive painting, measuring approximately two by five meters, has been moved from its high position in the gallery where it had hung since the museum opened in 1962. Now positioned at ground level, conservation student Olivia Leake from London's Courtauld Institute can thoroughly examine Spencer's techniques and materials as part of her master's degree in easel painting conservation. This unprecedented access allows both the conservator and visitors to discover previously hidden aspects of the artist's working methods.
Leake's investigation has revealed surprising details about Spencer's painting technique. While the artist's use of a traditional pencil-drawn grid to transfer drawings to canvas is visible to the naked eye, other discoveries have been more unexpected. "I was quite shocked to realize just how thin the paint is—you can see the ground coming through in most paint passages," Leake explains. The ultra-violet light examination has uncovered small pinpoint breaks in the paint layer, which Leake believes reflects Spencer's urgency to complete the work before his death.
The conservation work has also challenged long-held beliefs about Spencer's artistic process. Paint analysis revealed that an area of water, originally painted green, was later covered with blue paint. Additionally, Leake has identified multiple changes to the underdrawings, including modifications to the figurehead in the foreground. "This is particularly interesting because there are a lot of anecdotes about Spencer never changing the underdrawing," Leake notes. "He's quoted as saying to his daughter that the drawing is the image of the soul."
The artist's focus appears to have been concentrated on the central figure of Christ, which represents one of the few areas of the expansive canvas that might be considered complete. This selective completion supports the theory that Spencer was racing against time to finish his masterpiece. The public conservation process has proven fascinating to visitors, with Leake emphasizing the importance of making such specialized work accessible to broader audiences.
"Opening conservation up to broader audiences is really important," Leake states, adding that this transparency helps explain why funding for the arts remains crucial. "A lot goes into it behind the scenes that people don't realize." The live conservation work demonstrates the complex technical and historical research required to understand and preserve significant artworks.
Looking ahead, the conservation team's primary concerns involve identifying and stabilizing problematic areas of the painting. Of particular concern is a stained area in the top left portion of the work, where only pencil marks remain on primed canvas with no paint present. This damage may be mold that developed during the painting's early nomadic existence, when Spencer regularly rolled up the canvas and transported it wherever he traveled. The conservation project continues to reveal new insights about both Spencer's artistic methods and the physical history of this important unfinished masterpiece.
