Duncan Grant
Eight Studies for Murals at John Maynard Keynes' rooms, 1920
Oil on canvas
Each: 33 x 14 in (83.8 x 35.5 cm)
Philip Mould & Co.
Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell are vital figures in the narrative of early twentieth century British painting and design and, along with a number of other artists, intellectuals and writers,...
Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell are vital figures in the narrative of early twentieth century British painting and design and, along with a number of other artists, intellectuals and writers, were the lifeblood of the Bloomsbury Group.
Another key member of this group was John Maynard Keynes, arguably the most seminal figure in 20th century economic philosophy. In 1920 Grant and Bell travelled to Italy with Keynes and on their return were asked to paint a series of panels for the interior of Keynes’s rooms at Webb’s Court at Kings College, Cambridge. The present works were painted in preparation for the larger panels, which are still in situ in Cambridge and represent an extraordinary fusion of the higher artistic and intellectual aspirations of the Group. Remarkably, despite one having been temporarily lost, these studies are now again together as a complete set.
The chosen theme was muses of the arts and sciences, and in the final works the males were most likely painted by Grant and the females by Bell. Each of the subjects are portrayed with a symbolic attribute and are shown against a marble-like backdrop, in a manner not dissimilar to those no doubt seen on their travels in Italy.
Another key member of this group was John Maynard Keynes, arguably the most seminal figure in 20th century economic philosophy. In 1920 Grant and Bell travelled to Italy with Keynes and on their return were asked to paint a series of panels for the interior of Keynes’s rooms at Webb’s Court at Kings College, Cambridge. The present works were painted in preparation for the larger panels, which are still in situ in Cambridge and represent an extraordinary fusion of the higher artistic and intellectual aspirations of the Group. Remarkably, despite one having been temporarily lost, these studies are now again together as a complete set.
The chosen theme was muses of the arts and sciences, and in the final works the males were most likely painted by Grant and the females by Bell. Each of the subjects are portrayed with a symbolic attribute and are shown against a marble-like backdrop, in a manner not dissimilar to those no doubt seen on their travels in Italy.
Provenance
Commissioned from the artists by John Maynard Keynes in 1920.Duncan Grant;
The artist's estate until 1987;
Purchased by the previous owner at the Hirschl and Adlerexhibition in 1987;
A Highly Important Collection of Works by Bloomsbury Artists from a Private North American Collection
Exhibitions
London, Edward Harvane Gallery, A Homage to Duncan Grant: on his ninetieth birthday in company with a few friends: Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry, Simon Bussy, Edward Wolfe, Keith Baynes, Edward Le Bas, February - March 1975, no. 7 (one panel);Liverpool, Bluecoat Gallery, Duncan Grant, Designer, February 1980, no. 45 (2 panels);
London, Anthony d'Offay Gallery, The Omega Workshops Alliance and Enmity in English Art 1911-1920, January - March 1984, no. 78;
New York, Hirschl and Adler, British Modernist Art 1905-1930, November 1987 - January 1988, no. 136.
Literature
D. Todd and R. Mortimer, The New Interior Decoration, London and New York, 1929, pls. 24 and 25;M. Keynes, 'The Picture Collector', Essays on John Maynard Keynes, 1975, p. 286.
R. Shone, Bloomsbury Portraits, Oxford, 1976, pp. 234-5;
Exhibition catalogue, British Modernist Art 1905-1930, New York, Hirschl and Adler, 1987, no. 136, illustrated.