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Vanessa Bell
Vanessa Bell was a central figure within the Bloomsbury Group
and lent to it a stability and coherence it might otherwise have
lacked. A talented artist, she held sway with her acuity, integrity
and a sense of humour. Yet she remained inscrutable, glimpses
of her life only appearing through her sister, Virginia Woolf. In this authorised biography, Frances Spalding draws upon a
mass of unpublished documents to reveal Vanessa Bellâ s considerable
achievements, in both her art and her increasingly unorthodox
life. A sympathetic account is given of her marriage to
Clive Bell, her affair with Roger Fry and the complex nature of
her lasting relationship with Duncan Grant. It is a fitting tribute
to a woman of great paradox, wit and honesty.
and lent to it a stability and coherence it might otherwise have
lacked. A talented artist, she held sway with her acuity, integrity
and a sense of humour. Yet she remained inscrutable, glimpses
of her life only appearing through her sister, Virginia Woolf. In this authorised biography, Frances Spalding draws upon a
mass of unpublished documents to reveal Vanessa Bellâ s considerable
achievements, in both her art and her increasingly unorthodox
life. A sympathetic account is given of her marriage to
Clive Bell, her affair with Roger Fry and the complex nature of
her lasting relationship with Duncan Grant. It is a fitting tribute
to a woman of great paradox, wit and honesty.
399 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1979
15 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Frances Spalding
75 books15 followersFrances Spalding CBE, FRSL (née Crabtree) is a British art historian, writer and a former editor of The Burlington Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 26, 2012
Very good biography of a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group. Not an easy read as there is great detail and a lot of information. Vanessa Bell was Virginia Woolf's sister; her talent lay in art rather than writing. She married Clive Bell and for many years continued an affair with Roger Fry. She also had a very close relationship with Duncan Grant. Her unorthodox life and its effect on those around her is well documented. Her relationship with her daughter in later life is interesting as she reacted against her mother's way of life. I have always been fascinated with Bloomsbury and this book provides a solid introduction
July 31, 2016
A few personal notes, to give context to my reading of this book:
I purchased my copy of Spalding's biography during my visit to Charleston on May 4, 2016. Initially published in 1983, Spalding's study of Vanessa Bell's life and work was the first to be totally devoted to this hitherto "silent" member of the original Bloomsbury Group. Spalding does an admirable job of demonstrating that VB's personality and domestic gifts and strong individualistic sense was at the very core of the Bloomsbury Group. She was also perhaps the single most influential person in her sister Virginia Woolf's life, and a talented artist in her own right.
This biography was reissued in 2016 - featuring Duncan Grant's Portrait of Vanessa Bell, painted in 1918, the year that VB gave birth to Angelica (Bell, later Garnett). In her preface to the new edition, Spalding refers to the interest in Bloomsbury (and specifically Vanessa Bell) generated by the BBC series "Life in Squares" - which aired in 2015. My daughter Camille and I watched this series in January of 2016, and I will happily acknowledge that it did reignite an interest in the Stephen sisters (VB and VW) which I've had for nearly 30 years. Prior to visiting Charleston, I reread Angelica Garnett's memoir Deceived with Kindness. I also read Jane Dunn's biography titled Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf: A Very Close Conspiracy alongside this book. Dunn's study focuses tightly on the relationship between the sisters, and how much of their personalities, choices and interests were influenced by their roles within their family.
From the beginning, Vanessa was cast as a maternal figure. She was the eldest of the four children belonging to her mother and father, and after the early deaths of her mother and older step-sister, Vanessa had to take over the organisational reins of the household. All accounts of her life emphasise her talents in making a congenial home and binding people together. She had three significant romantic relationships in her life - Clive Bell (her husband), Roger Fry (an influential art critic and her lover for several years) and Duncan Grant (fellow artist and life partner). She somehow managed to maintain these relationships alongside each other, although Spalding (and indeed Dunn) emphasise that it was not without personal cost to herself. She also managed to run at least two homes and a variety of dependants while managing an art career.
The first half of the book is far more interesting than the second, but in some ways I think that reflects the life itself. I did feel that the impact of World War II, VW's death in 1941 and the last 20 years of VB's life were given short shrift. The book could also get bogged down in details about travel, meetings with various people - you need a LOT of knowledge about Bloomsbury Group and their acquaintances to keep all of the players straight - and business negotiations. Unsurprisingly, as she is an art historian, Spalding gives a lot of attention to the art. If you are looking for more details about the Stephen sisters, I think it is illuminating to read Dunn's biography alongside - or even instead of this biography. However, if you are interested in this time period - particularly the time period between the two world wars - or female artists, or the Bloomsbury Group, then this biography is a must.
I purchased my copy of Spalding's biography during my visit to Charleston on May 4, 2016. Initially published in 1983, Spalding's study of Vanessa Bell's life and work was the first to be totally devoted to this hitherto "silent" member of the original Bloomsbury Group. Spalding does an admirable job of demonstrating that VB's personality and domestic gifts and strong individualistic sense was at the very core of the Bloomsbury Group. She was also perhaps the single most influential person in her sister Virginia Woolf's life, and a talented artist in her own right.
This biography was reissued in 2016 - featuring Duncan Grant's Portrait of Vanessa Bell, painted in 1918, the year that VB gave birth to Angelica (Bell, later Garnett). In her preface to the new edition, Spalding refers to the interest in Bloomsbury (and specifically Vanessa Bell) generated by the BBC series "Life in Squares" - which aired in 2015. My daughter Camille and I watched this series in January of 2016, and I will happily acknowledge that it did reignite an interest in the Stephen sisters (VB and VW) which I've had for nearly 30 years. Prior to visiting Charleston, I reread Angelica Garnett's memoir Deceived with Kindness. I also read Jane Dunn's biography titled Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf: A Very Close Conspiracy alongside this book. Dunn's study focuses tightly on the relationship between the sisters, and how much of their personalities, choices and interests were influenced by their roles within their family.
From the beginning, Vanessa was cast as a maternal figure. She was the eldest of the four children belonging to her mother and father, and after the early deaths of her mother and older step-sister, Vanessa had to take over the organisational reins of the household. All accounts of her life emphasise her talents in making a congenial home and binding people together. She had three significant romantic relationships in her life - Clive Bell (her husband), Roger Fry (an influential art critic and her lover for several years) and Duncan Grant (fellow artist and life partner). She somehow managed to maintain these relationships alongside each other, although Spalding (and indeed Dunn) emphasise that it was not without personal cost to herself. She also managed to run at least two homes and a variety of dependants while managing an art career.
The first half of the book is far more interesting than the second, but in some ways I think that reflects the life itself. I did feel that the impact of World War II, VW's death in 1941 and the last 20 years of VB's life were given short shrift. The book could also get bogged down in details about travel, meetings with various people - you need a LOT of knowledge about Bloomsbury Group and their acquaintances to keep all of the players straight - and business negotiations. Unsurprisingly, as she is an art historian, Spalding gives a lot of attention to the art. If you are looking for more details about the Stephen sisters, I think it is illuminating to read Dunn's biography alongside - or even instead of this biography. However, if you are interested in this time period - particularly the time period between the two world wars - or female artists, or the Bloomsbury Group, then this biography is a must.
August 3, 2016
Vanessa Bell was at the centre of the Bloomsbury group and more than any of the others lived in squares and loved in a triangle. She also lived at Charleston Farm at the foot of the South Downs and visiting there pushed me to pick up this book.
I was left with an enigma, a stoical woman whose love was returned but in very different measures and whose art I had overlooked. Frances Spalding has written a classical biography, easy to read, measured and balanced its views and following the chronology of the subject's life.
If you want to know more about one of the central figures of British art and a woman who deserves greater recognition this book cannot be beaten.
I was left with an enigma, a stoical woman whose love was returned but in very different measures and whose art I had overlooked. Frances Spalding has written a classical biography, easy to read, measured and balanced its views and following the chronology of the subject's life.
If you want to know more about one of the central figures of British art and a woman who deserves greater recognition this book cannot be beaten.
April 3, 2019
Oh but I did not want to finish this but was unable to stop turning the pages as fast as I could. A wonderful, engaging read in every way. Spalding had a tremendous subject in Vanessa Bell and her research and delivery is impeccable. And now I sit here bereft and unsure as to what to read next. Also, I absolutely have to visit Charleston House and garden at some stage!
November 6, 2021
An excellent and immersive biography of an artist who has been largely eclipsed by her famous sister Virginia Woolf and her long-term partner Duncan Grant. It is well researched and highly detailed, but nevertheless very readable - unsurprising considering Vanessa's life was so full of incident and extraordinary characters. Of course, she also lived through a time of enormous change, growing up in Victorian London, surviving two world wars, and being at the forefront of seismic artistic change with Roger Fry and her husband Clive Bell's introduction of the Post-Impressionists to England and new theories of 'significant form'. Her personal relationships were complex - she was at the centre of the Bloomsbury group who famously “lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles” - but she always maintained a good relationship with her husband while living from the 1920s with Duncan Grant at Charleston, and also allowing Grant his freedom to pursue homosexual relationships too. The biography makes clear her devotion to her art above all, her quiet determination to live life on her terms, and her ability to overcome hardships, disappointment and terrible grief. Frances Spalding has really succeeded in bringing Vanessa alive.
June 8, 2017
I have rarely enjoyed a biography as much as this one. Vanessa Bell and the other Bloomsbury-ites were evidently prolific letter writers, and so Frances Spalding had a wealth of material to draw upon. The result is an intimate portrait of Bell's life in both its professional and personal aspects - the latter being the more fascinating of course! My interest in the Bloomsbury group came via literature rather than painting - the works of Bell's sister Virginia Woolf obviously, but also E.M. Forster and T.S.Eliot. This book came to me via a friend after I had visited Charleston, the home of Vanessa and Duncan Bell, and enjoyed a guided tour around its quirkily decorated rooms. It has sent me off online to look at the paintings of both, and also those of Vanessa Bell's close friend Roger Fry, and to seek out photos of the various Bloomsbury folk (Lytton Strachey, Maynard Keynes, etc) who were their intimates. My only quibble with the edition I read is that more photos and reproductions - colour reproductions - would have enhanced it greatly. However, it's still a five star read.
June 21, 2024
It took me a good while to read this book because I was constantly looking up paintings and other painters, not to mention other members of the Bloomsbury group. Vanessa Bell was the lesser known sister of Virginia Woolf and an artist. This book is an affectionate portrait of a woman who was loved by many while holding herself somewhat aloof. A good number of reasons for this reserve are apparent when reading the story of her life. The first half of the book was so totally engrossing that I felt like I was living simultaneously in this world and that of early 20th century England.
i-get-the-picture
July 13, 2022Pretty good (it is workmanlike; not esp. brilliant). I will return to this sometime in the future if I ever feel the need to do so. At present, however, it is falling lower and lower in my TBF pile, which is almost larger than my TBR pile. (Not really, but it weighs more — on my conscience, at least…)
July 4, 2022
Vanessa Bell suffers from being the sister of Virginia Woolf--she is not recognized as the fine artist she was and as integral in the Bloomsbury movement. This detailed biography describes her love for art as well as the life and times of the influential group.
June 9, 2024
This is an excellent biography of Vanessa Bell. While the artist appears often in popular culture - it is usually along side her sister Virginia and the Bloomsbury group, and rarely with much depth or analysis. This book opens a window into her character and views on art. Much enjoyed!
Read
May 15, 2021Disappointing actually, compared to Vanessa and Her Sister. It seemed that Spalding did deep research, but missed the energizing force and understanding that should have made V come alive.
April 25, 2024
The most amazing person. Another great life, marred by misfortunes, yet so well lived. Sleep well, Vanessa Bell.
August 26, 2025
Feeding my brain
November 17, 2007
A little on the dry side but Bell is an interesting enough person that you keep reading. Virginia Woolf's sister she married Clive Bell and had two kids and she had affairs and spent most of her life with the love of her life (whom she also had a child with who went on to marry one of her father's former lovers...), the gay artist Duncan Grant, while never divorcing her husband.
January 9, 2008
I have read and re-read this portrait of Vanessa Bell. It is a fascinating study of Bell's family, including her sister Virginia Woolf, of the Bloomsbury group, and of the wonderful work done by the Omega Workshop-- the Arts and Crafts collective founded by Bell and her cohorts.
March 26, 2009
It is biography at his best, full of details and deeply (and also emotionally, sorta) involved in the long life of a passionate woman and artist.
August 12, 2016
Fascinating glimpse into the life of one of the most famous Bloomsbury artists, Virginia Woolf's sister,
September 14, 2014
Boring!
November 13, 2013
Insightful biography. Clarifies much about the world of Bloomsbury.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews