YORK Art Gallery has set the exhibition bar very high at the outset of 2009 with its imminent Stanley Spencer – 50 Years On show.

Works by one of the great British artists of the 20th century will be on display in York for the first time from January 24 to April 19.

Organised by Tate Liverpool, the exhibition will mark the 50th anniversary of Spencer’s death by bringing together artwork from different stages of his life.

On show in the main gallery will be oils, watercolours and intimate sketches, as well as Spencer’s last self-portrait, painted shortly before he died.

Laura Turner, curator of art at York Art Gallery, says: “Spencer is one of the most respected British artists of his generation. His work is immediate – sometimes appealing, sometimes shocking – but often offering those who take a closer look, glimpses of his personal life and beliefs.

“We’re delighted to be selected as one of the few venues for this display from the Tate’s extensive holdings and believe it will offer visitors to the gallery an invaluable look at the work of this remarkable artist.”

In the first exhibition of Spencer’s work to be held in York, 23 works from the Tate’s collection will be accompanied by one from York Art Gallery: The Deposition And Rolling Away Of The Stone, from 1956.

Exhibits include some of Spencer’s most memorable pieces, such as St Francis And The Birds, his first “adult work”, Woman Feeding A Calf, and the two self-portraits from 1913 and 1959.

Spencer was born in 1891 in the Berkshire village of Cookham, a place that would feature heavily in his later works. He is known to have been a regular attendee of the Methodist chapel in the village, setting in place the strong role that Christianity would play in his life and art.

In 1908, he trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London alongside artists such as David Bomberg and Isaac Rosenburg. After serving in the Royal Medical Corps during The Great War, Spencer was asked to paint works as a war artist, doing so again during the Second World War.

In 1925, he married art student Hilda Carline, with whom he had two daughters, Shirin and Unity. Carline divorced Spencer in 1937 and a week after the divorce he married artist Patricia Preece. Their marriage was an immediate failure; the union was never consummated and her demands for money meant Spencer was faced with increasing debts.

His post-war years saw Spencer produce many works of a biblical nature, but he chose to set the religious scenes in Cookham. It is these works for which Spencer is now most noted, although landscapes were his most popular paintings during his lifetime.

Spencer was knighted in 1959 and died of cancer in the same year.

•THE Stanley Spencer exhibition will be complemented by a series of events at York Art Gallery, including Studio Saturdays for accompanied children, supported by funding by the Friends of York Art Gallery.

At the first, from 11am to 12.45pm and 2pm to 3.45pm on February 7, participants will paint animals and birds inspired by Spencer’s paintings of farm animals and St Francis And The Birds.

At the second, at the same times on March 7, you can paint yourself “with the help of a real artist” in sessions triggered by Spencer’s painting of self-portraits throughout his life. A small charge will be made for materials.

A curator’s lunchtime talk, entitled Stanley Spencer, will be given by Laura Turner from 12.30pm to 1pm on February 19.

•York Art Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm daily and admission is free.