Duncan Grant: 1920

Fantastic exhibition at Charleston Farmhouse recreating Duncan Grant’s first solo exhibition in 1920.

The scholarship shown in this show was wonderful. Almost all the pictures had been gathered together and where the original couldn’t be identified or borrowed a suitable replacement was found for it. Those that were in the show were indicated by Grant’s signature under the work.

The labels on the pictures were good with each saying how much it cost and in some instances who bought it. Two were touchingly by Maynard Keynes and had been borrowed from King’s College Cambridge. Two panels of contemporary critics of the show.  The works were shown in a shown in white and yellow space split a couple of feet up the wall. It was the perfect yellow to set off the pictures and highlight the yellow in them which gave coherence to the display.

As for the pictures they were, of course, brilliant and quite a mix of subjects. They reflected the First World War years when Grant had to balance working on a farm with her art and many of them therefore had a domestic feel. I loved the luscious flower pictures and still lives  and a poignant picture of Vanessa Bell and Bunny Garnett working together in the dining room at Charleston.

I’ll certainly be going back for a few more visits!

Closes 13 March 2022

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