Death & Nostalgia

This painting is my interpretation of the Bathtubs described by Sir Stanley Spencer both Verbally and visually in his own Paintings and letters home from the the Beaufort war hospital.

Below is a brief passage from research I did on the man.

Sir Stanley Spencer was an English artist who lived from the 30th June 1891 to 14 December 1959.

Due to the fact that Spencers older brothers were all sent to the forefront to fight, Stanleys parents insisted that he help with the war effort in another way, which resulted in his posting at the Beaufort war hospital as a male nurse/ medic.

During Spencers stay at Beaufort war Hospital, he was always busy and never really had a chance to be alone and think, which distrupted his thaught processes emensly, slowly Spencer did find places of comfort and refuse around the hospital. His favourite place being noted as inbetween two large washbasins, which were the only colourfull items in the hospital.

It would remind him of his childhood days of climbing into his parents bed after a nightmare and feeling the safety of being protected, which these washbasins provided, he would go into the washrooms whenever he could to position himself between the washbasins and read or contemplate his thaughts in privacy.