96-year-old Artist Gwen Spencer Holding Retrospective Exhibition
Donating half of proceeds to Friends of Putney School of Art & Design
Gwen Spencer with some examples of her work
April 16, 2024
An artist who has been painting and drawing for over 80 years is holding a retrospective exhibition of her work.
Gwen Spencer has worked from her Putney studio since 2017 and, together with her family and friends, has selected a broad range of her creative output that reflects her achievements over a lifetime as an artist. She has worked in a variety of media including oil, pastel, charcoal and collage.
The exhibition is being held at the Putney School of Art and Design on Oxford Road (SW15 2LQ) and runs until Saturday 4 May.
Gwen Spencer was born in Argentina in 1927, the daughter of British parents. She grew up partly in Jersey and mainly in Hurlingham, a suburb of Buenos Aires. She married Chris in 1952 and moved to the UK where they settled in Wimbledon. Gwen had studied drawing and painting at the Atelier Josse in Buenos Aires but settling into a new life on a different continent, and the arrival of three children, put art temporarily on hold. By 1964 she was able to start attending morning classes at the Putney School of Art and Design. This soon transitioned to all day and continued to 1981 when Gwen and a group of friends from Putney organised a painting group that met regularly for more than 20 years. Gwen has three children, seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
In 1971 Gwen was elected a member of the National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Printmakers and was Secretary of the Society from 1987 until 2012. She has regularly exhibited small collections of her work in London and the Home Counties and has sold over 100 paintings and drawings to art collectors all over the world.
Now, at the age of 96, she has decided to share a selection of her paintings and drawings, many of which have never been seen in public before. Local visitors to the exhibition will notice scenes from Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, lively sketches of polo matches as well as still life, figurative and other landscape works.
Gwen will donate 50% of the proceeds from all sales to the Friends of Putney School of Art & Design.
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