I have to admit to having been fairly ignorant about the Bloomsbury Group. The fact that I have bought four lamps from Bloomsbury Revisited was unconnected with the history of this Bohemian set of people until my esteemed editor Jenny commented on my purchases. She knew all about the Bloomsbury Group and their house in Sussex and had little difficulty persuading me to take her to visit the farmhouse and see what all the fuss was about.
The house is owned and run by the Charleston Trust and when I went inside it was like coming home! I have been painting and distressing furniture and other objects for years, but this took house painting to a whole new level.
I am going to get Jenny to tell you more about the Bloomsbury set another time as she was in charge of briefing me on our drive. Suffice it to say, they were eccentric, Bohemian and broke many of society’s rules but they were also so incredibly talented. Writer Dorothy Parker’s famous quote goes that they ‘lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles’.
I thoroughly recommend a visit to Charleston and I hear there is even more inspiration in the form of an exhibition at The Milton Keynes Gallery. Founding member of the Group, painter Vanessa Bell is being celebrated with an exhibition of her work: ‘Vanessa Bell: A World of Form and Colour’, on until 23rd February 2025. The Guardian gave it five stars, describing it as ‘The world of an enigmatic genius’.
