He studied at the Slade School of Art UCL in London from 1908 to 1912 under Henry Tonks and others; such was his attachment to his home that he commuted from Cookham to the Slade, earning thereby from other students the nickname "Cookham".
Spencer developed a naïve style, influenced in part by the colourful primitivism of Paul Gauguin. He held deep Christian beliefs, and many of his works were religious in nature. Some, such as The Resurrection, Cookham (1923-27), set Biblical scenes in Cookham and depicted the villagers as characters from Scripture. His finest work, according to many critics, may be seen at Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere.
Stanley Spencer in 1918 receieved a commission in the army as an official war artist. He was knighted in 1959. He died at Cliveden, Buckinghamshire.
In November 2006, the Imperial War Museum asked Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to lead a campaign to fund restoration of Spencer's works focusing on the shipyards of Glasgow, and select other works including Cookham. Ferguson agreed, as his father, brother and an uncle had all worked in the yards at the time of Spencer's painting.
From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Spencer
Text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License
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