Who were the Bloomsberries?
The ‘Bloomsberries’ were a group of artists, writers, civil servants and many others who shared similar philosophies and made up what is termed ‘The Bloomsbury Group’. Many of them had met at Cambridge when studying there during the early years of the Twentieth Century. They would meet to discuss ideas around everything from art and literature to politics and economics. First wave feminism was key to the group and differences in sexuality were of prominent concern. Pacifism became a core issue in response to the outbreak of the World War One, many of the members becoming contentious objectors. Key members were to include Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Vanessa and Clive Bell, Roger Fry and not forgetting Duncan Grant.
The Stephen’s family were central to the group, the eldest brother Thoby had been at Cambridge and was a leading force in discussion groups. However, he was to die in his mid-twenties after picking up a serious case of influenza when travelling in Europe. This was to leave the two sisters, Vanessa and Virginia, later to become Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf, as the steering fraction of the ‘Bloomsberries’. They were joined by their younger brother Adrian, who like Thoby and Vanessa had also attended Cambridge. The meetings were held weekly at their house which was located in the Bloomsbury area of central London and where the name: ‘The Bloomsbury Group’ was instigated. About a year after Thoby’s death Vanessa married Clive Bell, Virginia and Adrian moving out to let them have the marital home to themselves. At this point, it looked as if the group was to disperse, however Vanessa brought everyone back together, they began to hold regular discussion groups on Thursday evenings once again. Further disruption was caused by the Great War, many of the members registering as conscientious objectors and being sent to work on farms outside of the Capital. The group reformed after the war years, Vanessa and her then family moving out to a large farmhouse: Charleston in Sussex. Nearby the now ‘Wolf’s’: Virginia had married Leonard Wolf, had a holiday home and Roger Fry, w a new wife in tow, relocated to the area. Charleston and Vanessa, had many visitors to stay and this almost commune like dwelling became the spiritual home of the Bloomsbury Group.
Duncan Grant was a core to the group, unlike the others he was penniless, his clothes bedraggled he had met Vanessa around 1910, then he became acquainted with Virginia and Adrian as they like nearby in similar dwellings. He was a painter and his paintings began to acquire a reputation, greatly influenced by the Post-Impressionist exhibition he developed his style from this point. Although he considered himself to be a homosexual he began and affair with Vanessa after she moved out to Charleston, her marriage to Clive has been blighted by infidelity from both parties. Duncan moved into Charleston with Vanessa and he fathered her youngest daughter, Angelina. Although he never gave up his homosexual pursuits, even engaging in a brief affair with Vanessa’s youngest brother; Adrian, he continued to live with her at Charleston for over forty years. Entangled personal lives were common within the group, however, Duncan and Vanessa also had a professional artist working relationship. They often painted the same models and shared source material, a major career highlight being the murals they worked on together at the nearby Berwick Church.
The Post-Impressionist exhibition which had greatly influenced Duncan Grant was brought to London by another member of the group: Roger Fry. He was slightly older than the others, around ten years they’re senior. He was a painter, a prominent art critic and a leading curator. Although he had attended Cambridge, he had been studying science, his parents were Quakers and his upbringing had been strict. After graduating with a First, he decided that he wanted to become an artist, a move which his parents could not understand. However, his success in the Art world were to be great, curating exhibitions for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, then he brought works of Cezanne, Matisse, Van Gogh and Picasso to London with the Post-Impressionist exhibition of 1910. This actually damaged his reputation as an art critic as the exhibition received poor reviews and there was a public outcry over the art which had been shown. His next move was to form a company called the Omega Workshop where he was to engage in artist production of everyday objects: fabrics, mural, ceramics, rugs. Many of the other artists in the group were involved within the company, although it went into liquidation the Avant-garde style and the ethos lived on through the decorative work within Charleston. As of the other members of the group his personal affairs were also entangled, having a brief affair with Vanessa herself around 1910, later settling down and marrying, then to engage in another adulterous affair under the roof at Charleston.
What became of the Bloomsbury Group?
The group began to disperse around the 1930’s, Roger Fry dying suddenly from a fall in 1934. Other members of the group were to come to fateful ends: Dora Carrington and Lytton Strachey were to die within a month of each other. Lytton, a prominent writer was too loose his battle for life through stomach cancer, although he was a homosexual, Dora had been in love with him for many years, she didn’t see any point in living without him and shot her herself dead. Julian Bell, Vanessa’ eldest son’s life was ended abruptly as an ambulance driver in the Spanish Civil war. Virginia Woolf was to kill herself, famously, by drowning in 1941. Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Leonard Woolf we to live long and full lives but the group had fully disbanded, too many had died, the philosophies and economics of the early twentieth century had changed too much over the course of two World Wars.
Many artefacts and workings of the group remain at Charleston and can still be seen today.
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