DescriptionOil on canvas 1927-1930. Spencer moved to the Hampshire village of Burghclere, originally to work on paintings for his patrons, Mary and Louis Behrend. They commissioned Spencer to paint murals in memory of Mary’s brother, Lieutenant Henry Willoughby Sandham, who had died in the War. But Spencer also used the time to explore the village, to paint gardens and cottages as here. These personal paintings do not hark back to the horrific experiences of war and of death; they represent a contrast to the somber contemplations of his commissioned work and celebrate instead natural life-forces. These gardens are burgeoning, caught as they are at the height of the gardening season.
