The Bloomsbury Set emerged in the early 20th century, a like-minded gang of celebrated English writers, philosophers, and artists that included Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, John Maynard Keynes, and Lytton Strachey. While they didn’t see themselves as a group, they were united by their rejection of Victorian social mores. They “believe in pleasure,” C. P. Snow wrote in his book Last Things (1970). “They tried to get the maximum of pleasure out of their personal relations.” This exhibition focuses on four Bloomsbury gardens, those of Woolf, Bell, Lady Ottoline Morrell, and Vita Sackville-West. Woolf had a garden at Monk House. Bell’s garden was at nearby Charleston. Morrell presided over Garsington Manor. And the garden designer and writer Vita Sackville-West created world famous gardens at Sissinghurst Castle. All drew inspiration from their nature sanctuaries. —Elena Clavarino
The Arts Intel Report
Gardening Bohemia: Bloomsbury Women Outdoors
Vanessa Bell, View into a Garden, 1926.
When
May 15 – Sept 29, 2024
Where
Etc
Photo: © Bolton Museum and Art Gallery/© Estate of Vanessa Bell/DACS 2023