Picture Archive & Historical Portraits
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Artworks
  • Image Licensing
  • Philip Mould Gallery
  • Contact
Menu
Duncan Grant

Duncan Grant

Duncan Grant, Standing Nude, 1932

Duncan Grant

Standing Nude, 1932
Oil on canvas
47 x 22 in (119.5 x 56cm)
Signed and dated 'D. Grant 32' lower right
Philip Mould & Co.
License Image
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EDuncan%20Grant%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EStanding%20Nude%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1932%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%20on%20canvas%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E47%20x%2022%20in%20%28119.5%20x%2056cm%29%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22signed_and_dated%22%3ESigned%20and%20dated%20%27D.%20Grant%2032%27%20lower%20right%3C/div%3E

To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com


This bold portrait is a testament to Grant’s role as a formidable force in the development of modern British art. Loyal to the post-impressionist style that had inspired him in his youth and brought him into the Bloomsbury group, the background of the present work is built from a flurry of quick yet thoughtfully placed brushstrokes of vibrant blues interlaced with dashes of white and deep purple. Richard Shone befittingly interprets Grant’s style; ‘his portraits present us with an extraordinarily solid world, comfortable and quiet, an air of scholarly reflection enveloping his figures.’[1]

Born in Scotland and brought up in India, Grant set up his own studio in Fitzroy Square in 1910, having followed the advice of French painter Simon Bussy to take up painting. Grant’s new style of painting was first to manifest itself in the works that he submitted to the 1910 exhibition of Post-Impressionist artworks that was organised by critic, Roger Fry. This cemented Grant’s status as one of the central figures of the Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals and cultural figures. Grant, who like many of the Group’s members led a Bohemian existence, conducted relationships – both heterosexual and homosexual – with several fellow members of the Bloomsbury set, including Strachey, economist John Maynard Keynes – whose rooms at Cambridge Grant decorated – and fellow artist, Vanessa Bell, with whom Grant pursued an unconventional but intimate and long-lasting relationship. With Bell, Grant worked in the Omega Workshops that were established by Fry in 1913 and whose aim was to incorporate Post-Impressionist developments in painting to the decorative arts. Significantly, the Omega Workshops were an experimental design collective, aiming to dissolve the barrier between the fine and decorative arts, bringing them together through boldly patterned rugs, linen, furniture and ceramics.


[1] R. Shone, Bloomsbury Portraits (Oxford: Phaidon, 1976).

Read more
This bold portrait is a testament to Grant’s role as a formidable force in the development of modern British art. Loyal to the post-impressionist style that had inspired him in his youth and brought him into the Bloomsbury group, the background of the present work is built from a flurry of quick yet thoughtfully placed brushstrokes of vibrant blues interlaced with dashes of white and deep purple. Richard Shone befittingly interprets Grant’s style; ‘his portraits present us with an extraordinarily solid world, comfortable and quiet, an air of scholarly reflection enveloping his figures.’
Close full details

Provenance

Mayor Gallery, London, 1968;
Private collection, USA.
Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Previous
|
Next
26 
of  33
PHILIP MOULD & COMPANY
CONTACT

+44 (0)20 7499 6818
art@philipmould.com

18-19 Pall Mall
London SW1Y 5LU

philipmould.com

FOLLOW US

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

YouTube

Artsy

 

Join the mailing list
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Picture Archive & Historical Portraits
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Be the first to hear about our available artworks

Interests *

Sign Up

* denotes required fields

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.