Biography duncan grant

He would eventually live with Vanessa Bell who, though she was a married woman, fell deeply in love with him and, one night, succeeded in seducing him; Bell very much wanted a child by Grant, and she became pregnant in the spring of Although it is generally assumed that Grant's sexual relations with Bell ended in the months before Angelica was born Christmas, , they continued to live together for more than 40 years.

During that time, their relationship was mainly domestic and creative; they often painted in the same studio together, praising and critiquing each other's work. Living with Vanessa Bell was no impediment to Grant's relationships with men, either before or after Angelica was born. Angelica grew up believing that Vanessa's husband Clive Bell was her biological father; she bore his surname and his behaviour toward her never indicated otherwise.

Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell had formed an open relationship , although she herself apparently never had any further affairs. Grant, in contrast, had many physical affairs and several serious relationships with other men, most notably David Garnett , who would one day marry Angelica and have four daughters with her, including Amaryllis Garnett.

Grant's love and respect for Bell, however, kept him with her until her death in Angelica wrote: " Grant was a homosexual with bisexual leanings". In Grant's later years, his lover, the poet Paul Roche — , whom he had known since , took care of him and enabled Grant to maintain his accustomed way of life at Charleston for many years.

Grant and Roche's relationship was strong and lasted even during Roche's marriage and five children he had by the late s. Roche was made co-heir of Grant's estate. Grant eventually died in Roche's home in Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.

Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Scottish painter and designer. For other people named Duncan Grant, see Duncan Grant disambiguation. Self Portrait , , National Gallery of Scotland. Rothiemurchus, Aviemore , Inverness-shire , Scotland.

Biography duncan grant

Aldermaston , Berkshire , England. Early life [ edit ]. Duncan Grant was born in Rothiemurchus near Inverness, Scotland, to a military officer, and his wife. Throughout his childhood, he studied art in various schools, including Slade School. He also spent some of his years as a boy in India. Upon his return to England , he continued his studies at St.

Paul's School in London from to For the next five years, he attended school at the Westminster School of Art, and then, after he finished schooling in England, he traveled abroad, where he studied in Italy and France. During this time, he met two individuals who greatly influenced his painting style and overall work as an artist. After his return to England, his cousin, Lytton Strachey, introduced him to the Bloomsbury group, with whom he became life long friends.

The Bloomburys, which included the Strachey brothers, Virginia Woolf , her sister Vanessa Bell, and her husband Clive , were well known for their interests in the arts and for their open relationships. Lytton was rumored to be Duncan's lover at one time. He would later become Vanessa Bell's paramour. In , one of Duncan's paintings in a post-impressionist exhibition mounted in London was a big success.

Duncan then joined the Camden Town Group in , which further contributed to the Post-Impressionist exhibition of , that was organized by the influential art critic, and Duncan's friend, Roger Fry. Throughout all the the Omega Workshops that Fry organized, from to , Duncan participated and became more influenced by not only Fry's artwork, but the man himself.

As an active and well-known homosexual, Duncan Grant is rumored to have had many relationships with men, particularly in the Bloomsbury group itself. In addition to his work as a painter, Grant was also a talented designer and decorator, producing murals, textiles, ceramics, and other decorative objects. He collaborated with Vanessa Bell on numerous interior design projects, including the decoration of the famous Omega Workshops in London, where they pioneered a modern, abstract aesthetic that would influence generations of designers and artists.

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy available on request. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails. Duncan Grant. Eventually, he was allowed to follow his desire to become an artist, rather than joining the army as his father wished, and he attended Westminster School of Art in He spent the summer of with Lytton Strachey, and around the same time Pippa Strachey took Duncan to a meeting of the Friday Club where he first met the artists in the Bloomsbury Group.

While in Paris he copied paintings in the Louvre. He also did fabric design, theatre and ballet work, illustration and print-making, and commercial interior decoration. Throughout a long life Duncan Grant continued to experiment with new styles and techniques. This book offers an opportunity to grasp the extent of his achievement. During his year in Paris, Grant developed a number of other important connections.

Returning to London, Duncan Grant formed relationships over the next few years that were to affect the course of his life and work.