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Escape to the Country: A behind
Escape to the COUNTRY
A new exhibition opening this month shines a light on the Bloomsbury Group’s rural retreat, Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex, and the incredible work it inspired
With its bucolic setting in the rolling heart of the South Downs, where tumbledown barns sit amid the colour of a fecund English garden, it’s easy to see why Charleston Farmhouse was a rural haven for the Bloomsbury Group in the early 20th century.
A new exhibition at Philip Mould Gallery in London’s St James’s showcases 32 artworks by the influential group, revealing how much of an inspiration the farmhouse was for more than half a century – even evoking comparison with Monet’s home in Giverny.
It was Leonard and Virginia Woolf who first discovered the property which, on the downs by Firle Beacon, was close to their own Sussex house.
She introduced it to her artist sister, Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), her husband Clive Bell (1881-1964) and her lover, the artist Duncan Grant (1885-1978) with Bell signing the lease in 1916.
Above The gardens at Charleston inspired the artistic residents. Photo Penelope Fewster
Right Vanessa Bell ((1879-1961) Interior with the Artist’s Daughter c.1935-6
Before long all three were regular visitors, along along with the couple’s two young children (Julian and Quentin) as well as the daughter Angelica which Bell and Grant had together.
This unconventional and creative coterie quickly welcomed other leading lights of the Bloomsbury Group to the new home for extended periods, with visitors including the art historian and critic, Roger Fry; influential economist, John Maynard Keynes and the writer and critic, Lytton Strachey (Grant’s former lover).
The writer and political theorist, Leonard Woolf; Thoby Stephens (Vanessa and Virginia’s brother) and Russian ballerina, Lydia Lopokova (Keynes’ wife) also stayed at the farmhouse.
Bell enthused about her new home in a letter to Fry. She wrote: “The pond is most beautiful with a willow at one side & a stone – or flint – wall edging it all round the garden part, & a little lawn sloping down to it, with formal bushes on it. Then there’s a small orchard & the walled garden…& another lawn or bit of field railed in beyond.
LOVE LIFE
Away from the confines of the capital, this artistic diaspora quickly turned the somewhat stolid and square farmhouse into a hub of creativity and a setting for alternative ways of living. As famously noted by the American satirist Dorothy Parker: “They lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles.”
Bell’s painting, The Pond, 1916, was, according to Grant, her first painting produced at Charleston and featured one of the main reasons she decided to move to the farmhouse. Grant’s own work The Hammock, Charleston (c. 1921-1922) shows Bell, her three young children and their tutor lounging on a summer’s day.
Two other notable family portraits feature Grant’s 1930 portrait of Julian Bell, his lover’s son who died seven years later in the Spanish Civil War aged just 29. The second is Vanessa Bell’s own work of her 18-yearold daughter Angelica in a book-filled interior. The tender moment pre-dates Angelica’s discovery she was, in fact, Grant’s not Clive Bell’s daughter, a revelation which caused a rift in the family.
DOMESTIC INSPIRATION
Both Bell and Grant took inspiration from everything from food preparation in the kitchen, to portraits of the household cat, Opussyquinusque. Even the oak-panelled walls and furniture of the building became playful canvasses for expression, resulting in a carnival of beautifully-patterned surfaces, murals and motifs throughout the house.
Fabrics and ceramics designed by Bell for the Omega Workshops, principally started by Roger Fry in July 1913, adorned the interiors.
WORLD AT WAR
However, in 1916, war was raging in Europe and any idyll was shattered by the call-up for men under 40 to enlist. It was a political climate entirely at odds with the group’s anti-war and pacifistic stance – many were conscientious objectors – and in order to avoid the draft, Bell secured work on a local farm for both her
Above Duncan Grant’s studio at Charleston. Photo Lee Robbins
Right Duncan Grant (1885-1978) The Hammock, Charleston c. 1921-1922
husband and Grant. As a reserved occupation, it avoided the chance of enlistment or possible imprisonment. Charleston continued to provide the perfect surroundings to redefine the era’s artistic boundaries while exploring the European modernist movement.
Bell and Grant embraced elements of the contemporary avant garde including cubism and abstract art, producing work that reduced form into geometric shapes, often outlined with black lines. Landscapes became more brutalist and sharply angular, with bold colours.
As the century progressed with travel restricted, amid two world wars, Charleston’s inhabitants and visitors turned to local scenes, such as Bell’s The Barn at Charleston, Winter (c.1940-1941) and Grant’s The Pond in Winter at Charleston (c. 1943).
When not painting family, friends or the surrounding countryside, Bell and Grant would turn to capturing the flowers that grew around them, alongside other curiosities within the house.
Bell’s Apples and Vinegar Bottle (1937) is one such example and includes a colourful ceramic bottle purchased by her on a summer trip to Italy. While the bottle will be displayed alongside the painting throughout this month’s exhibition, it usually still resides at Charleston.
Bell continued to live part of each year at the property, now run by the Charleston Trust, until her death in 1961, while Grant stayed on for longer, until the house became too large for him.
Charleston, The Bloomsbury Muse, is on at Philip Mould Gallery, 18-19 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5LU, from September 14 to November 10. For more details go to www.philipmould.com
Above left Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) The Barn at Charleston, c. 1940
Above The dining room at Charleston. Photo Lee Robbins
Right Duncan Grant’s bedroom at Charleston. Photo Penelope Fewster
Below right Clive Bell’s bedroom at Charleston. Photo Lee Robbins
Below left Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) The Pond, Charleston c. 1916 © Estate of Vanessa Bell. All rights reserved, DACS 2021
&AQ
Jane Oakley, head of paintings at Sworders, reveals the current market for works by the Bloomsbury Group
QWhat is the current market for the Bloomsbury Group?
AWhile prices for many 20th-century artists, particularly those from the post-war era, have increased dramatically in the last 10-20 years, there has long been a market for works by the Bloomsbury Group of artists, writers and designers, which I would regard as being long established.
QWhat is their unique appeal?
AThey have been much studied, admired, and mythologised for their philosophy and lifestyle. The folklore that has grown around them adds to their desirability as collectors buy into that magic.
QHow sought after are works by Bell and Grant?
AIn the visual arts, the two biggest names are Vanessa Bell and her some time partner, Duncan Grant. Bell’s works have performed strongly at auction as far back as the 1990s (The Model sold for £95,000 against an estimate of £50,000-£70,000 at Sotheby’s in 1997).
But that auction record was more than doubled when Autumn Bouquet sold this year at Christie’s for £256,250. The pre-sale estimate was a mere £25,000-£35,000, suggesting it was a big surprise on the day.
QWhat is driving demand?
AInterest is stoked by recent exhibitions, including that of Philip Mould, which may have contributed to the price, adding market confidence.
Strong bidding between the trade and private collectors can drive up prices dramatically. All at once, a market that was previously viewed as safe and consistent becomes more desirable –perhaps indicating the direction of travel for future sales.
QWho is more well known?
ADuncan Grant was more prolific, partly due to his long life (he died in 1978 at the age of 93). His works come up regularly at auction – a search on Artprice brings up more than 1,600 listings to Vanessa’s Bell’s 360.
Grant’s works on paper can sell for under £5,000, right up to his auction record of £170,000 achieved in 2016 for a nude study of his friend, the mountaineer George Mallory (1885–1978). A talented artist, Grant’s work embraces a wide variety of styles and mediums.
QWhat other members should we know about?
AThe artist and critic Roger Fry (1866-1934) was central to the ethos of the movement and more widely, in the promotion of modern art in the Edwardian period.
While his works generally don’t make the same figures as Bell and Grant, a record price was recorded last year for a portrait of EM Forster, another writer associated with the group.
The price of £325,000 far outstripped any previous record for the artist which previously stood at £56,500 for a portrait of Vanessa Bell in 2021.
QAre more affordable works available?
AThe Bloomsbury Group’s resolution to promote design and the decorative arts alongside fine art, resulted in an explosion of activity initially through the Omega Workshop. Painted furniture, tiles, ceramics, fabric designs were produced in a wonderfully collaborative way.
Their highly-decorative pieces, along with books and prints offer a huge variety for the collector starting at relatively modest sums. This allows every enthusiast the opportunity to a own piece of the Bloomsbury legend, regardless of budget.
Below right Duncan Grant (1885-1979) A Still Life of Irises in a Vase and a Book on a Table, sold for £7,100 in 2017, image courtesy of Sworders
Duncan Grant: solo exhibition
More than 30 paintings by Duncan Grant (1885-1978), some of which have never been seen in public before, will go on display at the Charleston Farmhouse from September 18. The display, marking the first solo show of Grant’s work since his death, recreates an exhibition a century ago at London’s Paterson-Carfax Gallery.
Then, the 31-work exhibition secured Grant’s reputation as one of the most important artists of the day and leading member of the British avant garde. It included landscapes, still-lives and portraits, created over the previous four years, as well as some of his most recognisable works, including Venus and Adonis (1919) and Juggler and Tight Rope Walker (1918-1919). Find out more at www.charleston.org.uk
Above Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) floral painting, sold for £10,500 in 2013, image courtesy of Sworders
Below left Vanessa Bell design for furnishing material, pen and ink and watercolour, sold for £1,200 in 2019, image courtesy of Sworders
