Synopses & Reviews
-- Charleston is the most important remaining example of Bloomsbury decorative style
-- Specially commissioned lavish color photographs
-- Previously unpublished archive photographs and material capture the flavor of the house in its heyday
-- Anecdotes and revelations about the Bloomsbury Group's colorful and unconventional lifestyle
This is a celebration of one of the most influential cultural households of our time. For 50 years Charleston was the home of the artists and designers Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and the country retreat of the Bloomsbury group; it is a unique visual experience and the only surviving example of the artists' decorative style. Charleston: a Bloomsbury House and Garden celebrates the artistic talents, wit and originality of those who lived there.
Quentin Bell, the younger son of Clive and Vanessa Bell, and his daughter Virginia Nicholson tell the story of this unique house, linking it with some of the leading cultural figures who were invited there. Pictures from Vanessa's family album convey the flavour of the household in its heyday, while some of the many canvases painted there attest to the importance of Charleston as a source of inspiration.
Synopsis
Set in the heart of the Sussex Downs, Charleston Farmhouse is the most important remaining example of Bloomsbury decorative style, created by the painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. Quentin Bell, the younger son of Clive and Vanessa Bell, and his daughter Virghinia Nicholson, tell the story of this unique house, linking it with some of the leading cultural figures who were invited there, including Vanessa's sister Virginia Woolf, the writer Lytton Strachey, the economist Maynard Keynes and the art critic Roger Fry. The house and garden are portrayed through Alen MacWeeney's atmostpheric photographs; pictures from Vanessa Bell's family album convey the flavour of the household in its heyday.