On the trail of the wildly bohemian Bloomsbury Set
LONDON’S galleries seem to be in thrall to Sussex artists. Queer British Art — featuring work by Duncan Grant and Dora Carrington among others — opened recently at Tate Britain.
So it is timely to explore their history and former stomping grounds. Charleston Farmhouse, just outside Lewes in East Sussex, is a good place to start.
Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant lived here between 1916 and Bell’s death in 1961. It was the Bloomsbury Set’s country retreat, shielded by the South Downs, with a lovely walled garden.
It still feels as if Bell has just popped out to pick flowers. There’s art on every surface, from Bell’s dusty pink dining table to Grant’s decorated bath.
Patti Smith, who took photographs of Charleston (on show in Dulwich Picture Gallery) said of the house: ‘Art was part of everyday living.’
They worked in an airy studio, which is still set up with an easel.
The Tate show gives insight into Grant’s life with erotic drawings and a portrait of his alleged lover, Paul Roche. Bell did not approve of Roche, so he had to camp on the Downs.
Not far from the house is Berwick Church, painted by Bell and Grant during World War II. Charleston’s garden appears in The Annunciation.
Ditchling, a 30-minute drive away, was once home to sculptor Eric Gill, type designer Edward Johnston, painter Frank Brangwyn and textile designer Ethel Mairet.
It is hard to look at Gill’s work without shuddering at a man whose sexual past was ‘murky’ to put it mildly — but the museum is interesting.
There is a type press and original London Underground signage designed by Johnston in 1916 and still in use today.