Thomas Ralph Spence

(British, 1845-1918)

A student

Footnotes

Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, 1891, no. 220.

Born in Richmond, Yorkshire, Thomas Ralph Spence was a talented painter, architect and designer. Originally trained as an architect, while working in Newcastle Spence came to the attention of Tyneside-based shipbuilder and art-collector Charles Mitchell, who employed him as a shipyard architect. Spence also undertook work on Mitchell's Newcastle mansion, Jesmond Towers.

Spence was encouraged by Mitchell's son, the artist Charles William Mitchell to move to London, and by 1885 he was established as an 'architectural decorator'. In January 1886, Spence joined the Art Worker's Guild, and the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement was brought to bear on Spence's next major project, St George's Church in Jesmond. Commissioned by Mitchell Senior, the church is regarded as Spence's greatest architectural triumph; as Neil Moat notes, it was 'the commission of a lifetime, his "one supreme effort", a summation of his talents as architect, artist and craftsman.'¹

Spence was highly respected as a decorative artist and designer, and in 1896 was a founding member of the Society of Designers, where his stained glass, metalwork and architectural designs were much admired.

Spence exhibited a small number of paintings at the Royal Academy between 1876-1916, with subjects drawn from classical history and mythology - titles such as The first invasion of Rome by the Gauls and The temptation of Odysseus by Circe- or classical genre, such as A breezy morning, Fresh flowers and A dreamer. Christopher Wood describes Spence as a 'worthy follower of Alma-Tadema' noting that he used his architectural training 'to good effect in his elaborate and very stagy recreations of classical history.'²

The present lot ably exemplifies Wood's description of Spence's work. Both the shape of the composition and the carefully rendered detail call to mind the work of Alma-Tadema, who by 1891 was a well-established exhibitor of Classical works at the Royal Academy. Here, the highly-decorated carpet, the elaborate acanthus design to the marbled backdrop, the folds of the sheet covering the student, demonstrate Spence's skill and eye for design.

¹ Neil Moat, A theatre for the Soul. St. George's Church, Jesmond: the building and cultural reception of a late-Victorian Church Newcastle University: Doctoral thesis, 2011, p. 188.
² Christopher Wood, Olympian Dreamers, London, 1983, p. 247.