I love wandering around historic houses and Charleston, near Lewes in East Sussex, is a particularly delightful place to visit, being the former home of two Bloomsbury artists who transformed a tumbledown farmhouse into an avant-garde work of art. Vanessa Bell moved into the 16th-century farmhouse in 1916 with her young sons, Julian and Quentin. As well as a cook, a housemaid and a nanny, she brought her lover Duncan Grant, who brought his dog Henry and his lover David Garnett, known as Bunny. The First World War was raging and Duncan and Bunny avoided conscription by working as labourers on a local farm. Vanessa was married to art critic Clive Bell, he was a frequent visitor to Charleston but he kept his permanent lodgings in London and by this time they were married in name only.
Vanessa, Duncan, Bunny and Clive.
Clive collaborated with art historian Roger Fry in bringing avant-garde European art to a British audience in 1910 with a landmark exhibition called Édouard Manet and the Post-Impressionists. Roger coined the term ‘post-impressionism’ to describe the work of artists such as Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh whose paintings were included in the show. In 1911, Roger began an affair with Vanessa, offering her the tenderness lacking from her relationship with Clive. At this time, Vanessa had started a career as a painter, exhibiting with the New English Art Club, Duncan was an established painter and they were both passionate about design, craft and domestic decoration. In 1913, Vanessa, Duncan and Roger co-founded the design enterprise, the Omega Workshops, with the aim of bringing the modern European aesthetic into the home and making art a part of everyday life. When Vanessa fell in love with Duncan, Roger was heartbroken but they all remained lifelong friends. He was one of Charleston’s most regular visitors and helped to build the studio and design the walled garden.
Vanessa gives Lytton Strachey a haircut in the garden at Charleston. Lytton and Duncan (in the background) had been lovers; Vanessa and Roger Fry (far left) had been lovers; Vanessa was married to Clive Bell (second to left).
Duncan had affairs with many men but the most important relationship of his life was with Vanessa. Their daughter, Angelica, was born at Charleston in 1918. Angelica believed she was Clive’s daughter until she learned from Vanessa that Duncan was her father. When Angelica married Bunny in 1942, Vanessa and Duncan did not attend the wedding and made it clear that they disapproved of the marriage, although Angelica remained in the dark about her husband’s past relationship with her father.
Clive moved to Charleston on a full-time basis in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War. Lots of changes were made to Charleston at this time, including a suite of rooms that were adapted for him – a bedroom, a library, a study and his own bathroom.
Duncan and Vanessa lived and worked side by side from 1916 until she died at Charleston in 1961. Duncan died in 1978 and was buried next to her at St Peter’s Church, just a couple of miles from Charleston.
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