From Omega to Charleston: The Art of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant 1910 -1934

16 February - 28 April 2018 Piano Nobile

Summary

In 2018 Piano Nobile staged From Omega to Charleston: The Art of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, 1910-1934, an exhibition of painting and applied art by two of the most innovative and influential British artists of the twentieth century. Curated in partnership with Richard Shone (author of Bloomsbury Portraits, 1993 and curator of The Art of Bloomsbury, Tate, 1999), the show explored the unique creative relationship shared by Bell and Grant from their early post-impressionist years to later work at Charleston, their shared Sussex home. Whether working at an easel or on decorative schemes, together they emerge as consistently radical practitioners at the very heart of their cultural milieu.

Drawing from private collections and a substantial group of works from The Charleston Trust, the exhibition included one of Bell and Grant’s most spectacular joint commissions: 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, the fifty plates were decorated with images of famous women through the ages, from Sappho to Greta Garbo. Considered lost for nearly forty years, and never publicly exhibited, they form an impressive testament to Bell and Grant’s close working partnership.

A fully illustrated publication accompanied the exhibition with an essay and catalogue entries by Richard Shone, and contributions from Hana Leaper (Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University), Frances Spalding (Biographer of Bell and Grant) and Darren Clarke (The Charleston Trust).

PRESS

The Oldie

Antiques Trade Gazette

World of Interiors