LOVE & LANDSCAPE: STANLEY SPENCER IN SUFFOLK
The Stanley Spencer Gallery is partnering with Gainsborough’s House to present a major exhibition of the works of one of England’s greatest twentieth-century painters, Sir Stanley Spencer (1891–1959).
This summer, the Stanley Spencer Gallery presents Love & Landscape: Stanley Spencer in Suffolk (4 April – 1 November 2026), the most ambitious exhibition devoted to Stanley Spencer in a decade.
Following a highly successful run at Gainsborough’s House, the exhibition arrives in Cookham with major loans from national and regional collections, alongside rarely seen works from private lenders and the Gallery’s own holdings. It explores Spencer’s profound emotional connection to Suffolk – especially Wangford and Southwold – and the pivotal role the county played in his life, loves and art.
Highlights include Southwold (1937) from Aberdeen Art Gallery and intimate works relating to his wives Hilda Carline and Patricia Preece, as well as personal items never before displayed in Cookham.
Set in the village that inspired so much of Spencer’s visionary imagination, this landmark exhibition offers a compelling new perspective on one of Britain’s greatest twentieth-century artists.
The Stanley Spencer Gallery is partnering with Gainsborough’s House to present a major exhibition of the works of one of England’s greatest twentieth-century painters, Sir Stanley Spencer (1891–1959).
The most ambitious exhibition dedicated to Stanley Spencer in a decade will open at Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury this autumn, before transferring to the Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham from April 2026. The partnership between the two museums will feature over 20 works from the Stanley Spencer Gallery presented alongside major loans from Tate, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries, and other public lenders, as well as rarely seen works from private collections.
The exhibition will travel to the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham, Berkshire, where it will be on display from 4 April to 1 November 2026. This leg of the exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore Spencer’s deep emotional and artistic ties to Suffolk from the heart of his beloved Cookham. It reveals how Suffolk’s coastal landscape and Spencer’s complex relationships, particularly with Hilda Carline and Patricia Preece, shaped some of his most poignant and visionary paintings. Visitors will encounter rarely seen portraits, intimate drawings, and evocative scenes such as Southwold (1937), which reflect both joy and introspection.
The exhibition will also highlight Spencer’s imaginative project, ‘The Church House’, offering insight into how memory, love and place were interwoven in his spiritual and artistic vision.
This major exhibition curated in collaboration with Gainborough’s House will focus on the artist’s work in Suffolk, where he married Hilda Carline in 1925, and returned to a decade later.