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Notes
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Stanley Spencer was probably the finest figurative painter working in Britain during the 1930s. This triptych was commissioned by Sir Edward Beddington-Behrens, a prominent economist and a distinguished patron of modern art. Believing 'it might be a source of inspiration to see life in the mountains where religion plays such a vital and dominant part in the life of the people', in 1933 he invited Spencer to stay with him in the mountainous Saas valley, in Valais in southern Switzerland. Spencer made studies of people, costumes, chapels and gaily painted wayside shrines, from which he painted this monumental work after his return to England. Spencer wrote: 'When I saw the peasants standing on the steps, they were like memorials of Switzerland, each standing on its own pedestal.
Title
Souvenir of Switzerland
Date
1935
Medium
oil on three canvases
Measurements
H 106.5 x W 320.5 cm
Accession number
NMW A 11709
Acquisition method
purchased with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Derek Williams Trust, 1998
Work type
Painting
National Museum Cardiff
Cathays Park, Cardiff (Caerdydd) CF10 3NP Wales
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