Charleston: the Bloomsbury Muse

Stunning artwork and illustrated essays illuminate the modernist home and studio of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.Accompanying an exhibition at Philip Mould & Company in London, this lavish catalog tells the story of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant’s enduring attachment to their home at Charleston Farmhouse in East Sussex through the work of the artists produced between the two world wars. Members of the Bloomsbury Group, Bell and Grant’s family home functioned as the collective’s country retreat and became a venue for progressive social self-expression. Their fondness for their Charleston Farmhouse, its idyllic surroundings, and its constant flow of visitors can be witnessed through their art. Beginning with radical modern works influenced by European trends—from painted furniture to depictions of food preparation in the kitchen, from the barns to the pond, from people to the household cat—this catalog tells a story of more than thirty years of astonishing artistic output. Focusing on Vanessa and Duncan’s most productive creative years, this volume illustrates how Charleston fed their artistic impulses and inspired a glorious canon of art.