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Posts Tagged ‘Dulwich Picture Gallery’

The Vanessa Bell exhibit at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, the first to feature Bell in a solo exhibit, is in its final days. But you can still get a look at it, whether you live in London or not.

Via the gallery

If you can, book your tickets before the exhibit ends June 4. However, if you can’t be there in person, you can visit the exhibit several ways.

Via the video

First, watch all or some of the series of videos on the exhibit. In this final Vanessa Bell video, co-curators Ian Dejardin and Sarah Milroy plant themselves in the last room of the exhibition to discuss the significance of Bell’s depiction of womanhood and reflect on one of her last self-portraits.

Via the catalogue

Second, buy the exhibit catalogue. I assure you it is breathtaking. When I first opened my full-color paperback version, I thoughtlessly wondered, “Which of these gorgeous paintings are Vanessa’s?” I quickly realized — all of them are. In the exhibit, as in the catalogue, Vanessa is permitted “to speak entirely for herself,” which Dulwich director and exhibit co-curator Dejardin notes in the catalogue preface that she has never before been allowed to do.

The catalogue’s 202 pages, along with the flyleafs and front and back covers, are filled with Bell’s art, along with photographs of the artist and Charleston, the Sussex home on which she lavished so much love and art. Many of her paintings — from her portraits to her abstracts — are reproduced in full-page format.

Besides Dejardin’s preface, it also includes background on Charleston and its artists. Author and exhibit co-curator Sarah Milroy discusses Bell as artist, mother, and feminist and puts the entirety of Bell’s life in an historical context. Hana Leaper expands upon that with her chapter, “Between London and Paris.” And Frances Spalding adds Virginia Woolf to the mix with her chapter on “Vanessa, Virginia and the Modern Portrait.”

Speaking of Spalding, a new edition of her biography of Woolf was released last year. The book was first published in 1983 and offers a fascinating and well-researched look at Bell, as well as other members of the Bloomsbury group. But one would expect nothing less from Spalding.

Via the shop

You can also shop the look, as I did. I went online and ordered some lovely items that promised to add the Bell look to my home. But whether they keep their promise or not, they are beautiful, they were shipped across the pond promptly, and I am enjoying them. Some of the items are sold out, but there are still a few available.

I was also excited to hear from Cecil Woolf that Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and the Great War, Seeing Peace Through an Open Window: Art, Domesticity & the Great War, my monograph on the two sisters that he published last year as part of his Bloomsbury Heritage series, is for sale at the Dulwich exhibit.

Items I purchased online from the Dulwich Picture Gallery Vanessa Bell exhibit.

 

 

 

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If, like me, you can’t cross the Pond to see the current Vanessa Bell exhibit at London’s Dulwich PictureHarper' Bazaar VB cover Gallery, get a glimpse of what you’re missing online.

Here’s what you can access about the exhibit, which opens today and runs through June 4:

  • Listen to the BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour interview with Virginia Nicholson as she talks about her grandmother’s work and shares her fascinating reminisces about her experiences with Vanessa. Just click on “Vanessa Bell” in the horizontal bar above the time bar.
  • Visit Legacy: Photographs by Vanessa Bell and Patti Smith, a special display that brings together photographs by Vanessa Bell and the American writer, artist and musician, Patti Smith.
  • Shop for Vanessa Bell inspired items at the Dulwich Picture Gallery online shop. I just did and found that shipping costs weren’t too prohibitive. You’ll find books, tea things, pillow shams, art and a collector’s edition of Harper’s Bazaar that features a Bell painting on the cover.
  • Read The Guardian‘s preview.
  • Read reviews from The Evening Standard and The Telegraph.
  • Watch the preview video.

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London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery will present the first major monographic exhibition of work by Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), Feb. 8 – June 4, 2017.

Here’s a video preview of the exhibition, which includes paintings, textile and book jacket design, and archival material that “will put Bell in her proper place at last,” according to co-curator Sarah Milroy.

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London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery will present the first major monographic exhibition of work by Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), Feb. 8 – June 4, 2017.

NPG 5933. Virginia Woolf (née Stephen) by Vanessa Bell (née Stephen), 1912. Oil on board, 15 3⁄4 x 13 3⁄8 inches (400 x 340 mm). National Portrait Gallery, London

NPG 5933. Virginia Woolf (née Stephen) by Vanessa Bell (née Stephen), 1912. Oil on board, 15 3⁄4 x 13 3⁄8 inches (400 x 340 mm). National Portrait Gallery, London

Widely acclaimed as a central figure of the Bloomsbury Group, Bell also stands on her own as a pivotal player in 20th century British art, inventing a new language of visual expression according to the gallery’s media release.

Arranged thematically, the exhibition will reveal Bell’s pioneering work in the genres of portraiture, still life and landscape and will explore her fluid movement between the fine and applied arts. It will focus attention on her most distinctive period of experimentation in the 1910s.

Approximately 100 oil paintings as well as fabrics, works on paper, photographs and related archival material will deliver Bell in full force, boldly experimenting with abstraction, colour and form while developing her own distinctive way of seeing the world.

A class, Vanessa Bell: Portraiture, will also be held for ages 15-18 in conjunction with the exhibit. It is scheduled for Tuesdays, Feb. 28 through March 28.

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For the first time, a major exhibit will focus on the work of Vanessa Bell. It will be mounted at London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery and run from Feb. 8 to June 4, 2017.

Here’s a post from The Charleston Attic that spells out the role that Bloomsbury in the country plays in the exhibit:

‘Vanessa Bell 1876-1961’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery

“This week a team from Dulwich Picture Gallery visited Charleston for the day in order to photograph objects and interiors for the upcoming exhibition ‘Vanessa Bell 1876-1961’.”

Read the full post: ‘Vanessa Bell 1876-1961’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery | The Charleston Attic

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