Spencer, Stanley Sir RA
Shipbuilding on the Clyde: The Template
1942
painting
© crown

By May 1941, Spencer had already started drawing a predella to the 'Shipbuilding' series. Traditionally this was a device which contained scenes of secondary importance to the main theme. Spencer may have wanted a predella for two reasons: the length of the series was out of proportion to the height and Spencer had amassed a large number of studies which he could not use in the main painting but was reluctant to leave out. The 'Template' refers to the large wooden framework used to transfer shapes on to sheet steel ready for cutting. The work was painted between February and May 1942 at Quinney's, Spencer's lodgings in Cookham. It was originally intended to hang under 'Burners' but in March 1946 Spencer suggested that the panel should be placed in the centre under 'Furnaces'. Related drawings: LD 6008 2, LD 6008 5 (verso), LD 6008 9, LD 6008 87, LD 6008 97, LD 6008 105, LD 6008 124

image: From left to right; side view of the bottom of an unfinished ship shored up with wooden shoring and showing the overlapping curved steel plates and the ribs of a double bottom; three men carrying a wooden template; a mother and child and a man; painters applying red-lead anti-corrosion paint to steel ventilators; a team of five men hauling steel girders with the aid of ropes and a heavy duty trolley; two men adjusting rails used to carry heavy loads of steel

IWM Reference: IWM ART LD 2000

Artist's Biographical Information