Younger brother of Sir. Stanley Spencer, born on 04.08.1892 in Cookham, Berkshire, died on 14.01.1979. Studied art at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, the Royal College of Art (wood carving) 1911-12, and the Slade School of Fine Art 1913-15. During the First World War, he served with the Royal Army Medical Corps initially in Bristol (with his brother Stanly for a short while) in Salonika, Macedonia and the Eastern Mediterranean. After the war, he returned to Slade School. Later, he became a professor of painting at the Royal College of Art (1932-1948), Head of the Department of Painting at the Glasgow School of Art 1948-50 and Head of Painting at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts 1950-1957. He was also an official war painter during the Second World War in the period between 1940-43.
Gilbert Spencer was in Macedonia with the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1915 to 1917, transferring to Egypt just as his brother Stanley followed him out to Salonika. Gilbert was based at the 28th General Field Hospital at Dudula, with the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. He created a series of watercolors and drawings depicting the daily scenes at the Macedonia Front. One example is the watercolor entitled “Sisters arriving at the 28th general hospital, Salonika, December 1915 “was sold by the auction house Sotheby’s London on 21.06.2000 (lot number 18).
