Study for Double Nude Portrait: the Artist and his Second Wife c. 1937

Editor: So, this is Sir Stanley Spencer's "Study for Double Nude Portrait: the Artist and his Second Wife," currently residing at the Tate. It feels so intimate and vulnerable, but also a little unsettling. What do you make of it? Curator: Unsettling is spot on! Spencer often wrestled with the push and pull between spiritual and earthly desires. Notice how he places himself above his wife, yet they're both intertwined. A visual metaphor, perhaps, for their complex bond? Does it make you wonder what the artist is feeling? Editor: It does. There's a definite sense of… yearing? Or maybe even a little conflict. Curator: Exactly! It's a brave and brutally honest exploration of love and marriage. Spencer invites us into their private world. Editor: It's definitely a piece that sticks with you. Thanks for illuminating some of those complexities! Curator: My pleasure! It's in that discomfort that the real beauty lies.