Annie Carline, 1931 (pencil on paper)

From Counterpoint Modern Realism 1910-1950. Spencer was introduced to the Carline family by his brother Gilbert, who was a student at the Slade with Hilda Carline; later she became Stanley’s wife. The Carlines were an extraordinary group of creative and intellectual talent. George Carline (1855-1920) was a successful portrait painter, with several painters and sculptors as his forebears, although his father had practiced as a solicitor in Lincoln. In 1885 George married Annie Smith (1862-1945) while working on a portrait commission in Essex. They produced five children, three of whom became painters – Hilda, Richard and Sydney.