Blogging Woolf

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Virginia Woolf will be among 61 writers whose portraits will be part of a National Portrait Gallery exhibit that will tour England, beginning this spring.

The exhibit, called “Writers of Influence: Shakespeare to J.K. Rowling,” will open in Sheffield in April, and will travel to Southampton, Plymouth and Sunderland.

From what I can tell, Woolf’s portrait is one painted by her sister, Vanessa Bell, in 1912.

The exhibition will make the following stops:

• Museums Sheffield: Graves Gallery from April 17, a move that is generating controversy because it comes right after officials voted to shut down a city library
• Southampton City Art Gallery from July 23
• Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery from Oct. 16
• Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens from Jan. 29, 2011.

Other writers whose portraits are included in the exhibit include William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, George Orwell, Enid Blyton, Lewis Carroll, Agatha Christie, John Lennon, JK Rowling, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, punk pioneer Lydon aka Johnny Rotten, David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey, Winehouse and recent Brit Award winner Dizzee Rascal.

As a side note, Woolf’s photographic portrait by George Charles Beresford is among the top 20 best selling post cards sold at the National Portrait Gallery.

Read more about the exhibit.