Vanessa Bell

During the early 20th century, Bell's works were among the first fully abstract paintings by British artists. Although she is best remembered as a painter, Bell was also a prolific designer.

When Vanessa Bell exhibited her painting ‘Iceland Poppies‘ at the exclusive New English Art Club in 1909, it was a rare achievement for a female artist. Well-known British artist Walter Sickert was particularly impressed by her work. ‘I didn’t know you were a painter’ he said to her at that time, ‘continuez!’. And so she did continue. In fact, during the early 20th century, her works were among the first fully abstract paintings by British artists. Although she is best remembered as a painter, Bell was also a prolific designer of textiles, carpets and embroidery, as well as a pioneering decorator of ceramics, furniture and domestic objects – not to mention the interiors themselves.

‘the firm pillar of our existence … sensible, and physically beautiful’

– Quentin Bell on his mother, Vanessa Bell

In 1913, Bell co-founded the design enterprise, the Omega Workshops, with fellow artists Duncan Grant and Roger Fry. They were all looking to the works of European artists for inspiration, and they wanted to bring the same aesthetic into the home – to make art a part of everyday life. A few years earlier, Fry had organised an exhibition in London which exhibited the work of international artists such as Paul Gauguin, Edouard Manet, and Vincent Van Gogh. He coined the term ‘Post-Impressionism’ to describe their work, the likes of which had never been seen before in Britain. The bright, vibrant colours, visible brushstrokes, and abstract, geometric shapes and forms became one of the biggest influences on Bell’s painting style. Her husband, Clive Bell’s, theory of ‘significant form’ (1914) was also influential, and Bell prioritised form and colour over subject matter in her paintings.

Although initially disinterested in marriage, Vanessa Stephen – as she was then – married the art critic Clive Bell in 1907. The year prior she had turned down his proposal, but following the sudden death of her brother Thoby Stephen from Typhoid Fever, she accepted his second proposal. They had two sons together – Julian and Quentin. Bell was fascinated with her children – both as an artist and as a mother. She was obsessed with her first-born Julian, painting and drawing him over and over again. Her children, including her daughter with Grant, Angelica, were a regular subject matter in her paintings. Later, her grandchildren would also be welcome in the studio.

‘To the end of her life, she painted pictures replete with psychological interest, while at the same time firmly denying that the story of a picture had any importance whatsoever.’

– Quentin Bell, ‘Bloomsbury’ (1968)

Clive and Vanessa Bell never divorced, and remained friends throughout their lifetimes, but by the time Bell moved to Charleston in 1916 they were no longer living together as a conventional married couple. Bell and Grant, who moved here with Grant’s other lover, the writer David Garnett, were already lovers by this time. As the sexual element of their relationship subsided, a lifelong friendship endured between Grant and Bell that was likely the most important in both of their lives. They lived and worked side by side from 1914 until Bell died here at Charleston in 1961. They painted many portraits of one another during this time.