Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury To Charleston

As part of Sotheby’s Modern British & Irish Art Week, Sotheby’s will host a tightly-curated exhibition celebrating the very best of art and literature by the Bloomsbury group, with works for sale alongside loans from the collection at Charleston, the home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

The Bloomsbury group was a circle of intellectuals, including artists and writers, who made an indelible mark on the trajectory of the arts in Britain in the 20th century, challenging conventions through their progressive ways of life. The exhibition will celebrate the indefatigable spirit of the Bloomsbury Group and the renewed interest in their work and lives today, featuring paintings, drawings, furniture, ceramics, and literature by Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Roger Fry, Virginia Woolf, and Henry Lamb.

Though born in London’s Bloomsbury, the movement found its spiritual home at Charleston in Sussex. The home and studio of painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant became the hub around which many of the early twentieth century’s greatest minds gravitated. Today, Charleston – set to celebrate half a century as a charity in 2030 – is the custodian of a world-leading Bloomsbury collection. As part of the exhibition, Charleston will be loaning some of its most significant pieces, many of which are not usually available on public view. This includes recent acquisitions made as part of Charleston’s ‘50 for 50’ campaign, a hunt for the very best Bloomsbury works still in private collections that marks the forthcoming 50th anniversary.