A Handsome Gent - Nancy Sharp
Handsome Gent – Nancy Sharp (Spender)
Thought to be a portrait of her Michael Spender her second husband
W 70cm H 78cm
£395
British artist Nancy Sharp (1909–2001) was talented - her paintings would several times be highlighted in reviews of shows – but Sharp despised self-promotion. A failed marriage to William Coldstream (a British realist painter), a war, a second marriage to Michael Spender (an English Explorer, surveyor and RAF squadron Leader) was tragically ended by his death just days before the end of the war in Europe, left her a single mother of three uncertain about the future.
But she got on with making a life. She painted. She taught students from backgrounds quite distinct from hers. She had affairs. She raised a family (albeit not always in a manner her children found particularly sympathetic or admirable). Sharp could be, well, sharp.
She could be dismissive of others, or just plain rude. But she could be suddenly attentive, engagingly curious, and charmingly gossipy. She lived not just through the century, but of it and in it, and always as herself, reckless, unapologetic, careless of reputation.
A figurative painter of fine eye and inevitable vitality, Sharp also produced stunning portraits of well-known contemporaries, including Louis MacNeice (an Irish Poet, Playwright and Producer for the BBC that she had an affair with during her first marriage), Trevor Huddleston, and Sir John Summerson, among others.
It is believed this portrait is of Michael Spender, her second husband who lost his life in WWII. His brothers were Stephen Spender (an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1965.) and Humphrey Spender a British photographer, painter, and designer.
Nancy Sharp’s work sells well – regularly obtaining £700 - £1200 at auctions.
Further information on her can be found here:
https://artherstory.net/nancy-sharp-an-undeservedly-forgotten-exemplar-of-modern-british-painting/
Handsome Gent – Nancy Sharp (Spender)
Thought to be a portrait of her Michael Spender her second husband
W 70cm H 78cm
£395
British artist Nancy Sharp (1909–2001) was talented - her paintings would several times be highlighted in reviews of shows – but Sharp despised self-promotion. A failed marriage to William Coldstream (a British realist painter), a war, a second marriage to Michael Spender (an English Explorer, surveyor and RAF squadron Leader) was tragically ended by his death just days before the end of the war in Europe, left her a single mother of three uncertain about the future.
But she got on with making a life. She painted. She taught students from backgrounds quite distinct from hers. She had affairs. She raised a family (albeit not always in a manner her children found particularly sympathetic or admirable). Sharp could be, well, sharp.
She could be dismissive of others, or just plain rude. But she could be suddenly attentive, engagingly curious, and charmingly gossipy. She lived not just through the century, but of it and in it, and always as herself, reckless, unapologetic, careless of reputation.
A figurative painter of fine eye and inevitable vitality, Sharp also produced stunning portraits of well-known contemporaries, including Louis MacNeice (an Irish Poet, Playwright and Producer for the BBC that she had an affair with during her first marriage), Trevor Huddleston, and Sir John Summerson, among others.
It is believed this portrait is of Michael Spender, her second husband who lost his life in WWII. His brothers were Stephen Spender (an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1965.) and Humphrey Spender a British photographer, painter, and designer.
Nancy Sharp’s work sells well – regularly obtaining £700 - £1200 at auctions.
Further information on her can be found here:
https://artherstory.net/nancy-sharp-an-undeservedly-forgotten-exemplar-of-modern-british-painting/
Handsome Gent – Nancy Sharp (Spender)
Thought to be a portrait of her Michael Spender her second husband
W 70cm H 78cm
£395
British artist Nancy Sharp (1909–2001) was talented - her paintings would several times be highlighted in reviews of shows – but Sharp despised self-promotion. A failed marriage to William Coldstream (a British realist painter), a war, a second marriage to Michael Spender (an English Explorer, surveyor and RAF squadron Leader) was tragically ended by his death just days before the end of the war in Europe, left her a single mother of three uncertain about the future.
But she got on with making a life. She painted. She taught students from backgrounds quite distinct from hers. She had affairs. She raised a family (albeit not always in a manner her children found particularly sympathetic or admirable). Sharp could be, well, sharp.
She could be dismissive of others, or just plain rude. But she could be suddenly attentive, engagingly curious, and charmingly gossipy. She lived not just through the century, but of it and in it, and always as herself, reckless, unapologetic, careless of reputation.
A figurative painter of fine eye and inevitable vitality, Sharp also produced stunning portraits of well-known contemporaries, including Louis MacNeice (an Irish Poet, Playwright and Producer for the BBC that she had an affair with during her first marriage), Trevor Huddleston, and Sir John Summerson, among others.
It is believed this portrait is of Michael Spender, her second husband who lost his life in WWII. His brothers were Stephen Spender (an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1965.) and Humphrey Spender a British photographer, painter, and designer.
Nancy Sharp’s work sells well – regularly obtaining £700 - £1200 at auctions.
Further information on her can be found here:
https://artherstory.net/nancy-sharp-an-undeservedly-forgotten-exemplar-of-modern-british-painting/