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Overview
What is Bloomsbury Group?
c. 1905 – 1930sPeriod
Bloomsbury, LondonBegan in
12Key artists on this page
6Works with free images
3Museums to visit
The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, and Lytton Strachey. Their works and outlook deeply influenced literature, aesthetics, criticism, and economics, as well as modern attitudes towards feminism, pacifism, and sexuality. Although popularly thought of as a formal group, it was a loose collective of friends and relatives closely associated with the University of Cambridge for the men and King's College London for the women, who at one point lived, worked or studied together near Bloomsbury, London.From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Original Art Movements text
This is the text that appeared on this page on the original Art Movements site. It is kept for reference; some statements are simplified or out of date. Where it differs from the overview, characteristics and dates above, which are checked against Wikipedia and Wikidata, trust those instead.
The Bloomsbury group was basically a group of like minded friends with a ‘common attitude to life’, many of whom had first met at Trinity College, Cambridge at the turn of the century.
From 1904 onwards they met regularly at the Gordon Square home of Thoby Stephen in Bloomsbury, London. Thoby and his sisters, Vanessa and Virginia, (later to become Bell and Woolf), and brother Adrian hosted ‘at homes’ when they and their friends indulged in free conversations about art, literature and philosophy.
‘Bloomsbury’ has become synonymous with both literary and artistic styles, as well as with economic theory and psychology. The group included Clive Bell, John Maynard Keynes, Desmond McCarthy, Leonard Woolf and Saxon Sydney Turner. Bloomsbury writers included some of the great names of the 20th century; E.M.Forster, the critic and biographer Lytton Strachey and Virginia Woolf.
The Bloomsbury artists Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry and Duncan Grant were greatly influenced by the Post Impressionists and their painting celebrates the sensuous beauty of everyday domestic surroundings.
The Artist's Garden at Durbins, Guildford by Roger Fry, 1915 · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Period
c. 1905 – 1930s
Began in
Bloomsbury, London
Key artists
Vita Sackville-West, Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington
Related
Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism
How to recognise it
Key characteristics of Bloomsbury Group
An informal circle of friends rather than an art movement with a style
Painters influenced by Post-Impressionism and Fauvism
Bold colour and decoration in interiors and design
Liberal, unconventional attitudes to art and life
Links between painting, literature, economics and criticism
Timeline
When was Bloomsbury Group?
Bloomsbury Group is usually dated c. 1905 – 1930s, beginning in Bloomsbury, London. Dates for art movements are approximate: artists joined and left, and styles overlapped.
A circle of English writers, artists and thinkers that included Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.
When was Bloomsbury Group?
Bloomsbury Group: c. 1905 – 1930s. It began in Bloomsbury, London. Dates for art movements are approximate.
What are the main characteristics of Bloomsbury Group?
An informal circle of friends rather than an art movement with a style; Painters influenced by Post-Impressionism and Fauvism; Bold colour and decoration in interiors and design; Liberal, unconventional attitudes to art and life; Links between painting, literature, economics and criticism.
Who are the most famous Bloomsbury Group artists?
Vita Sackville-West, Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington, Clive Bell.
What are some famous Bloomsbury Group works?
The Artist's Garden at Durbins, Guildford by Roger Fry; White Road with Farm by Roger Fry; Still-life with blue bottle by Roger Fry; Jane Maria Grant, Lady Strachey, 1840 - 1928. Writer by Dora Carrington; Reclining nude with dove in a mountainous landscape (portrait of Henrietta Bingham) by Dora Carrington.
Where can I see Bloomsbury Group art?
Yale Center for British Art (New Haven, United States), National Galleries Scotland (Edinburgh, United Kingdom), Tate (London, United Kingdom) hold works shown on this page.
