This month, the International Virginia Woolf Society shared a series of “interesting facts about Virginia Woolf on its Facebook page.
The most recent, * Interesting fact no. 12, * told the story of how Woolf, 28, and her sister, Vanessa Bell, 30, “once appeared in public almost nude,” according to the judgment of some who saw them at a ball held in conjunction with Roger Fry’s 1910 exhibition of Post-Impressionist painters at the Grafton Galleries.
Inspired by the paintings, the two sisters browned their arms and legs, adorned themselves with flowers and beads, and appeared as bare-shouldered, bare-legged, ‘indecent’, figures from a Gauguin canvas.
It’s said that the two women recreated their Gauguin girl look for a later photo, which has not been located.
Visit the IVWS Facebook page for more interesting facts about Virginia, including the fact that Woolf’s Dreadnought Hoax escapade heads the list of “The Twelve Best Facts from a Year of Interesting Literature.”.
What a wonderful story and it once again shows Virginia and Vanessa’s fun side. One has to assume that their is a copy of that photo out there somewhere.