Bloomsbury, Part II

Clive Bell's Study at Charleston

I knew I wanted to write a follow-up on my recent post about the Bloomsbury Group, and decided there's no time like the present! The earlier post seemed somehow incomplete without an exploration of "Charleston"--Vanessa Bell's country house in England, where she and her Bloomsbury friends hung out. And believe me, they did more than just hang out. They decorated virtually every surface of the house with murals, pictures and designs. Look around: walls, mantles, bookcases, door panels, furniture--no surface was spared! They even made their own pottery tablewares.

Dining Room at Charleston, with stenciled walls and pottery by Quentin Bell

Charleston is located in the Sussex countryside. The original reason for going there in 1916 was rather practical: Duncan Grant and David Garnett were conscientious objectors in World War I, and to be exempted from fighting, they were
required to work as farmers. Over time, Charleston became a hub of artistic and intellectual Bloomsbury gatherings. 

A door at Charleston

In the book Charleston, Virginia Nicholson (Vanessa's granddaughter)  writes that the house was "a place where, for both children and adults, messy creativity was a way of life." She writes of the uninhibited and irreverent quality of the decor, as if created by a child who had been let loose to experiment. Such abandon! To me, this is the charm of the place: the painted decor exudes the pure joy of creation.

Grarden Room at Charleston

I love Virginia's olefactory memories of the house: "the lovely smells of new cake, books and turpentine...of crocks of wet clay in the pottery, of dahlias in the garden and sweet lavender drying in spare rooms."

Mantel at Charleston

Vanessa and her friends did not regard their decorative work as precious. They painted with whatever materials were at hand. No matter if the surfaces were not properly prepared, or the walls seeping dampness--full speed ahead! This is one reason that the restoration of Charleston has been difficult--the Bloomsberries were hardly working with archival materials.

But restoration has been done, and the house is now open to the public as a museum. Click here for a room by room exploration. I would love to visit Charleston in person one day. For the time being, images and imagination will have to suffice....