The Red House
Throughout his life, Spencer found both inspiration and consolation in the meadows, lush hedgerows and country gardens of rural England. He continually returned to the subject of landscapes in his work as a regenerative process, each time re-exploring the subject with new energy. The Red House is in Wangford, Suffolk. Spencer followed the artist Hilda Carline (1889-1950) there in the autumn of 1924. Hilda married Spencer at Wangford Church in 1925 and they spent their honeymoon at a farm cottage in the village. After the breach in his relationship with Hilda he returned briefly and alone to Wangford in 1937, failing to persuade his wife to accompany him. Hilda is depicted in a group portrait at the Ferens by her brother Richard Carline (1896-1980). For Spencer, the landscapes he portrayed were often of great personal importance. This sense of place was a fundamental theme running through much of his art. His landscapes often feature distorted scale and perspective and a heightening of realistic detail to personalise the scene.
