Collectors of the art of Bloomsbury artists Duncan Grant, Dora Carrington, Henry Lamb, Quentin Bell, or Paul Roche will be interested in this — an auction of their work that begins tomorrow, June 17.
It is the first time this work has been offered at auction in 60 years. Viewing ran from June 15-16.
Watch the 14-minute YouTube video in which Kentucky resident Kate Archer, the owner of the collection and the daughter of the late collector, discusses the art, as well as her memories of visiting Charleston and meeting Grant when she was nine years old.
The David Elstob Auction Gallery in the UK is running the auction. Look for the Country House Sale to view the items and register to bid. Many items besides the Bloomsbury art are included in this lot, but you can refine your search in the search window.
The Charleston Trust has raised £20,000 of the £60,000 it needs to help save “Lessons in the Orchard,” from sale at auction.
“Lessons in the Orchard” (1917) by Duncan Grant. (C) The Charleston Trust
Duncan Grant’s 1917 painting is considered one of the most important paintings of early life at Charleston, as Grant painted it the summer after he and Vanessa Bell first arrived at the Sussex home in 1916. It was also one of Vanessa Bell’s favorite paintings and has hung by her bedside since that time.
According to Charleston, “The much loved painting serves as a poignant reflection of Grant’s experiences as a conscientious objector during the First World War, depicting a scene of domestic tranquillity amidst the chaos of the era. The painting captures a different kind of family structure, offering a lens into themes of social privilege and chosen kinship that have always been present here at Charleston.”
The family who has loaned Charleston the painting since the 1980s has given Charleston the opportunity to secure its permanent place within its collection.
With the support of the Trustees of the ArtFund, Charleston has secured a grant of £40,000 towards the purchase price. However, it must raise a further £60,000 to ensure that “Lessons in the Orchard” remains in the care of Charleston’s collections team and is returned to public display for generations to enjoy.
Charleston, a treasure trove of Bloomsbury art and culture, is in dire need. Can you help?
Charleston
The longtime home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and the country refuge for the Bloomsbury group, along with its garden, galleries, shop and café, are temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
That means the charity that receives no public funding is bereft of income from visitor admissions, as well as its main fundraising event. The Charleston Festival, scheduled for May, is cancelled.
As a result, Charleston has issued an emergency appeal for donations from those who appreciate this unique venue, no matter what side of the pond they live on.
You can find out more, including how to make a donation — whether you are a UK citizen or not — here.
Charleston as seen from the farm track to the home. The gravel, the lawn, bushes, and the facade of the house are the same as in the time of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.
The Charleston garden
The Famous Women Dinner Service painted by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant between 1932 and 1934 has been on display in the Outer Studio at Charleston.
Virginia and Vita. Virginia and Leonard. Vanessa and Roger. Vanessa and Duncan. All four of those Bloomsbury couples are included in the exhibit “Modern Couples: Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde” at The Barbican Art Gallery in London through Jan. 27, 2019.
According to promoters:
Modern Couples explores creative relationships, across painting, literature, sculpture, photography and design. Meet the artist couples that forged new ways of making art and of living and loving, from Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera, Emilie Flöge & Gustav Klimt to Virginia Woolf & Vita Sackville-West.
A panel discussion with Piano Nobile will be held at 5 p.m. The book launch is 6 – 8.30 p.m. Limited seating is available. RSVP by emailing events@hatchards.co.uk
The book is published to accompany the exhibition From Omega to Charleston: The Art of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, 1910-1934, this fully illustrated catalogue includes an essay and catalogue entries by Richard Shone (author of Bloomsbury Portraits (1993) and curator of The Art of Bloomsbury, Tate, (1999), the book explores the unique creative relationship shared by Bell and Grant through rarely seen works from private collections, some of which are reproduced for the first time, and a selection of loans from The Charleston Trust.
Famous Women Dinner Service
The second half of the publication focusses exclusively on The Famous Women Dinner Service. Begun in 1932 at the request of the art historian and director of the National Gallery Kenneth Clark and his wife Jane, these fifty plates were decorated with images of famous women through the ages, from Sappho to Greta Garbo.
Considered lost by art historians for nearly 40 years, the dinner service forms an impressive testament to Bell and Grant’s close working partnership. A ground-breaking essay by Hana Leaper is succeeded by closer scholarship dedicated to the individual plates. Produced in partnership with the Paul MellonCentre for Studies in British Art, this research is published in print for the first time.
The glorious catalogue is available for view on the Issuu website.
