Some books…
This post is a review of some books about British Artists, mostly women, by women:
- Joanna Moorhead, The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington (Virago, 2017), 321 pages.
- Virginia Nicholson, Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939 (Penguin, 2002), 362 pages.
- Frances Spalding, Vanessa Bell (Phoenix, 1983), 399 pages.
Breaking Free
Virginia Nicholson’s Among the Bohemians tells the extraordinary history of a group of artists and writers who overthrew conventions in both their art and their lives. Written by one of the family (her grandparents were Clive and Vanessa Bell, sister of Virginia Woolf) it is revealing and understandably positive about the careers and lifestyle choices of the Bloomsbury Group and their coterie. At Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex, one can marvel at the decor – every surface and piece of furniture vividly painted – but also view a tangled chart showing the Gordian knot of relationships between people. Whatever Victorian social conventions they grew up with were thoroughly chucked in the pond, along with the art styles of the 19th century.
I admire much of these peoples’ creative output, while finding their wild and unconventional living arrangements eye-rollingly bizarre. I am left wondering about how this privileged set didn’t implode with their own indulgences. They could never have done what they did without the long-suffering household staff clearing up after them, discretely overlooking who was sleeping with whom. Their wealthy backgrounds and benefactors ensured that they could dodge their social responsibilities during the war by escaping into “farm work” down in Sussex.
We find their stories fascinating and sometimes baffling. Much of their art is bold and experimental, while much is dull. As ever, in these “experiments in living” it took some big-hearted women to keep the show on the road, often at significant personal and psychological cost. It is a well-written book.
Out There
This superb biography of an unjustly overlooked artist, tells the tale of a troubled life in troubled times. Carrington suffered terribly from episodes of mental distress and was caught up in the maelstrom of the 1930s and 40s. But the angst of her internal struggles and the external stresses of rejection, displacement and lost love seemed to fuel a remarkable creativity. Was Leonora Britain’s greatest surrealist?
A touring exhibition, which we enjoyed in a gallery in Arundel, tried to redress the obscurity into which the artist fell, at least in British eyes. Yet her experiences, recounted well in this book, from being disowned by her stuffy upper-class family, through a turbulent love affair with influential artist Max Ernst, to spells in cruel institutions for the mentally ill, to a altogether different life, and different relationships via New York to Mexico. It was there that she found home, friendship and stability to continue creating some extraordinary work, and is honoured as a celebrated national treasure, much to the bemusement of unsuspecting British art critics, who had quite forgotten about her.
There is a disturbing wildness in many of her images: a recurring goddess theme, and part-human, part-animal figures. There is colour and vibrancy, and all the surprising juxtapositions of character and composition that we would expect from a surrealist. The imagination seems unleashed (and occasionally unhinged) but much of her work is beautiful. As well as accomplished paintings, the exhibition included sculpture, masks for theatre productions and fabulous wall plaques. She was the last survivor of the famous group of European artists and photographers and friends (including Picasso, Dali, Duchamp, Miro etc.) Charming photos of her and Max Ernst, taken by Lee Miller brought a life of innocence and joy to life, before the irruption of war, loss and grief crashed into Leonora’s life, with irrevocable results.
Bloomsbury Glue
And finally we meet Frances Spalding’s portrait of Vanessa Bell, sister of Virginia Woolf and the very heart of the Bloomsbury Group. She was the social glue, the homemaker, the hostess at Charleston farmhouse, the practical and reliable friend of many, peace-maker and carer. In the maelstrom of lovers’ tiffs and swirling ambitions of her friends, she seemed to be the one grounded, a confidant for others, putting herself second, perhaps too often?
Or at least that’s the impression I was left with after reading of her and Virginia’s background – the brilliant Stephens girls, emerging from the influence of an overbearing father into a free-spirited group of artists and intellectuals. She was the very centre of group of free-thinking free-loving tribe that moved to the Sussex countryside where Charleston became a fascinating and creative hub. And the extraordinary decorated interiors at Charleston epitomise how Bell “turned every place she lived into a living work of art” (Teresa Dintino). She negotiated complex relationships – married to Clive, lover of Duncan Grant, .devotee of Roger Fry etc. – and absorbed heartbreak and disappointment and tragedy (with her sister’s mental health issues and tragic death). The beautiful, sad portrait on the cover of the Phoenix edition of the book speaks volumes.
She was many things, but also – and her mind, most importantly – an artist, striving to express what was within her, to absorb the exciting influences of the early 20th century. She was arrested by the post-impressionists that Roger Fry brought to the UK for the first time, but was not tempted to copy these styles. Instead, working alongside Grant and Fry and others, she wanted to find her own “voice”. Does her work stand the test of time? Does it scale the heights of some of her contemporaries’? I don’t know, but I found her personal story touching, her resilience and adaptability inspiring, and her intellectual and emotional journey absolute absolutely fascinating.
Elsewhere on the Bookshelf
- Katy Hessel, The Story of Art (Without Men) (Hutchison / Heinemann, 2022), 458 pages. A brilliantly written and illustrated book with begins the long-overdue recognition of many women artists. Despite lack of opportunity and deliberate prejudice and exclusion, this book celebrates some great talents. It begins to redress the balance…
- Frances Spalding, British Art Since 1900 (Thames and Hudson, 1986) 252 pages. Spalding is an art historian who has also written biographies of Duncan Grant and Eric Ravilious. I appreciated some of her account of British art history, in that she brings out some stand-out features compared with continental modern art: the British propensity for figurative rather than abstract, for example. But overall it was a bit of a messy map, and not as good a read as her book on Bell.
Leonora Carrington lived in Mexico City for sixty years, and her home was recently converted into a museum. The Arundel show included a sheet of 2021 Mexican National Lottery tickets, decorated with her portrait to mark the tenth anniversary of her death.