Charleston was the home and country meeting place for the
writers, painters and intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury
Group. The interior was painted by the artists Duncan Grant and
Vanessa Bell, and together with their collection forms a unique
example of their decorative style. The house is open to
visitors.
In addition to the house and the artists garden, there is an
exhibition gallery showing an exciting mix of contemporary and
historical shows of fine and decorative art, a Crafts Council
selected shop selling applied art and books relating to
Bloomsbury, a small tea room and a video presentation.
Charleston hosts a number of special events throughout the year,
most notably the Charleston Festival which is centred around
talks and drama relating to literary, artistic and Bloomsbury
themes.
Famous sisters Virginia Woolf & Vanessa Bell
The Omega Workshop was started in London in 1913
by Roger Fry. They boasted such talents as Vanessa Bell, Henri
Gaudier-Brzeska, Duncan Grant and Wyndham Lewis. The Omega
closed in 1919, but Bloomsbury decorative work did not cease.
Vanessa Bell remained the central figure; settled into life at
Charleston in Sussex, she and Duncan Grant continued to design
objects and schemes, and her children later made their own
contributions, Quentin as potter and Angelica as painter.
Isabelle Anscombe's text, drawing on unpublished sources,
catches the flavour of the time and its characters, from
bohemians to haut monde. Howard Grey was allowed to print and
reproduce early snapshot negatives, and his own photographs,
begun before Duncan Grant's death, include unique records of
Charleston still inhabited by one of its creators.
