{"product_id":"colourful-abstract-by-the-well-known-artist-colin-spencer","title":"Colourful Abstract By the Well Known Artist Colin Spencer","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"xt0psk2\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eColourful abstract floral by the well-known London writer and artist Colin Spencer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOil on Canvas \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTitle: Bouquet \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e61 x 46 cm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExcellent condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003esigned to verso \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e£150\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eColin was born in Thornton Heath, south London, the son of Harry Spencer, a master builder, and his wife, Gypsy (nee Heath). He wrote about his early years in the first part of a planned three-volume autobiography, Backing Into Light: My Father’s Son (2013). By all accounts it was not a happy childhood. Colin was educated at Brighton college and Brighton Art College, having decided early in life that he wanted to be an artist. In 1950 he was called up for national service, and, although a pacifist (and a lifelong humanist), served in the Royal Army Medical Corps until 1952.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter a period travelling around Europe he embarked on a career marked by its diversity and productivity. His drawings and stories appeared in publications including the London Magazine, Encounter, the Transatlantic Review, the Times Literary Supplement and the Observer – for the last of these, he often illustrated Katharine Whitehorn’s column. He drew artists and writers, including CP Snow, Evelyn Waugh and John Betjeman and in 1959 was commissioned by the London Magazine to draw EM Forster at 80. Forster sat for him in Cambridge, and 10 years later Colin also painted an oil portrait of the writer. The first of his nine novels, An Absurd Affair, set in Vienna, was published in 1961.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eColin was held in as high esteem by his contemporaries as he was by his readers. He could be demanding, but was a man of great charm. As a colleague, he was generous and forceful, not without a certain asperity when dealing with people he considered fools. He was a fine cook and a most hospitable host, with a penchant for lively conversation, bringing the same vigour to social gatherings as he did to life in general. He was the antithesis of contemporary intellectual conventions, seeking to find connections between diverse aspects of human experience rather than limiting himself to a narrow field of specialisation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"html-div x14z9mp x1lziwak xexx8yu xyri2b x18d9i69 x1c1uobl x9f619 xjbqb8w x78zum5 x15mokao x1ga7v0g x16uus16 xbiv7yw x1xmf6yo x12nagc x1n2onr6 x1plvlek xryxfnj x1c4vz4f x2lah0s xdt5ytf xqjyukv x1qjc9v5 x1oa3qoh x1nhvcw1\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"web-text\" data-readmore=\"\" id=\"rmjs-1\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mandrake Petworth","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57721990447488,"sku":null,"price":176.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/4153\/9257\/files\/WhatsAppImage2026-03-26at09.36.26.jpg?v=1774527370","url":"https:\/\/mandrakepetworth.com\/it-it\/products\/colourful-abstract-by-the-well-known-artist-colin-spencer","provider":"Mandrake Petworth","version":"1.0","type":"link"}