Review: A Room of the Their Own/Block Museum of Art
Drawings, Evanston, Multimedia, Painting Add comments
Vanessa Bell, "Virginia Woolf," ca. 1912, oil on paper board. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA, gift of Ann Safford Mandel, class of 1953.
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Intimate portraits of well-loved Bloomsbury-era British artists and writers in their cozy interiors and idyllic exteriors are sure to please. Artists in this remarkable group—Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf, Duncan Grant, Roger Fry, Dora Carrington, E.M. Forster—gathered around the creative hub of the sisters Vanessa and Virginia in the Bloomsbury district of London or various country cottages for creative stimulation or conversation about “art, sex or religion” freely (as Woolf said). Carrington’s charming, cartoonish drawings are an unexpected surprise. Crockery, decorative arts and household goods display the good intentions of the Omega Workshop, Roger Fry’s brainchild to create high-quality, handcrafted goods by anonymous artists. However short-lived, the workshop’s principles still inspire. Tantalizing explanations of the group’s romantic relationships may inspire visitors to do some googling of their own. (Kelly Roark)
Through March 14 at the Block Museum of Art, Arts Circle Drive, Northwestern University
One Response to “Review: A Room of the Their Own/Block Museum of Art”
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March 2nd, 2010 at 10:43 am
What also needs to be noted is Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, and even the critic, Roger Fry, were very good modern painters and this is a rare, and soon to vanish, opportunity to see their work in Chicago, much of which compares quite well with the contemporary work of Matisse that will soon be shown at the Art Institute.