19 October 2024 - 23 February 2025
Vanessa Bell was a key figure in 20th-century British art and played a central role in the Bloomsbury Group. The exhibition at MK Gallery – the first solo show of Bell’s work in over seven years and the largest to date – will be an overview spanning the artist’s illustrious career, including over 120 items.
It is still little known that Bell’s pioneering work was at the forefront of British abstraction and less still her role in creating the conditions in which artistic practice could flourish from the Friday Club to Omega Workshops. The exhibition will include all aspects of her practice across fine and applied art.
View into a Garden 1926
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on board
H 70 x W 56 cm
Bolton Library & Museum Services, Bolton Council
Saxon Sydney-Turner at the Piano c.1908
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 18.5 x W 24 cm
Charleston
Roger Fry 1912
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on panel
H 29.3 x W 23.6 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London
Frederick and Jessie Etchells Painting 1912
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on wood
H 51.1 x W 53 cm
Tate
Conversation Piece 1912
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on board
H 25 x W 30 cm
University of Hull Art Collection
Study for Berwick Church: The Shepherd 1941
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on wood
H 121 x W 59 cm
RWA (Royal West of England Academy)
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 75 x W 62 cm
RWA (Royal West of England Academy)
The Toilet of Venus 1929
Duncan Grant (1885–1978) and Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 213.4 x W 139.3 cm
Southampton City Art Gallery
Conversation 1913–1916
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 86.6 x W 81 cm
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Interior c.1940
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Gouache on board
H 36.5 x W 44 cm
Rochdale Arts & Heritage Service
View of an Italian Town through an Archway 1912
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on panel
H 37.5 x W 27 cm
National Trust, Monk's House
Flowers on a Balcony 1957
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on board
H 57.5 x W 38.5 cm
RWA (Royal West of England Academy)
Still Life by the Studio Window c.1950
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 68 x W 61 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
The Apse of the Duomo, Pisa 1912
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on panel
H 33.5 x W 22.5 cm
National Trust, Monk's House
Bacchanale 1929
Duncan Grant (1885–1978) and Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 213.4 x W 137 cm
Southampton City Art Gallery
Interior with a Housemaid c.1939
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 74 x W 54 cm
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) c.1912
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on panel
H 55 x W 45 cm
National Trust, Monk's House
Still Life (Triple Alliance) c.1914
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Collage with paper, oil & pastel on canvas
H 81.9 x W 60.3 cm
The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds
Flowers in a Glass Vase c.1930
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 75 x W 50.2 cm
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
Interior with Duncan Grant (1885–1978) 1934
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 112.2 x W 97.3 cm
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
Bottles and Jug on a Table c.1915/1917
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 81.5 x W 62 cm
National Trust, Monk's House
Portrait of Mrs M. 1919
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 68.2 x W 56.8 cm
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 55 x W 46 cm
Government Art Collection
Vase and Flowers 1929
Duncan Grant (1885–1978) and Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 213.4 x W 91.6 cm
Southampton City Art Gallery
Apples c.1916/1917
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 52 x W 44.5 cm
National Trust, Monk's House
Nude with Poppies 1916
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 23.4 x W 42.4 cm
Museum & Art Swindon
Still Life with a Plaster Head c.1947
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on board
H 53.5 x W 44.5 cm
Charleston
The Pond at Charleston, East Sussex c.1916
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 29.5 x W 34.8 cm
Charleston
West Pier, Brighton, East Sussex c.1955
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 49.5 x W 37 cm
Charleston
Charleston, East Sussex c.1950–1955
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 59.4 x W 49 cm
Charleston
David Garnett 1915
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil & gouache on cardboard
H 76.4 x W 52.6 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London
