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The Bloomsbury Group

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In 1923, Virginia met Vita Sackville-West and began having a passionate affair with her. ... Relatively soon, he became a famous artist and art critic. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: The Bloomsbury Group


1
The Bloomsbury Group
2
In the Beginning
The Bloomsbury Group initially began around 1904
when friends at Cambridge came together to
discuss a wide range of societal ideas in a very
informal fashion. The group of writers, artists,
and intellects, were sometimes considered rather
snobbish for their wit . Their Thursday night
conversations at the home of the Stephen family
in Bloomsbury, London, helped to lay the
foundation for their name. The group stayed
rather tight knit, connected by a variety of
things, including blood, friendships, and sex.
The World Wars greatly affected the group, and by
the beginning of World War II, the groups
importance had disintegrated.
3
WRITERS
  • Virginia Woolf
  • Lytton Strachey
  • David Garnett
  • Vita Sackville West
  • E.M. Forster
  • Leonard Woolf

4
Virginia Woolf Born January 25, 1882
Died March 28, 1941
  • "I have a feeling I shall go mad. I cannot go on
    longer in these terrible times. I hear voices and
    cannot concentrate on my work. I have fought
    against it but cannot fight any longer. I owe all
    my happiness to you but cannot go on and spoil
    your life."
  • During her lifetime, Virginia wrote over 500
    essays and many books, including
  • The Voyage Out (1915)
  • Night and Day (1919)
  • Jacobs Room (1922)
  • Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
  • To the Lighthouse (1927)
  • Orlando (1928)
  • A Room of Ones Own (1929)
  • The Waves (1931)
  • Three Guineas (1938)

Virginia Woolf was born to Julia Jackson
Duckworth and Sir Leslie Stephen both parents
were active members in the literary community,
giving Virginia access to their world. Her
childhood was peppered with many tragic
occurrences first, she was sexually assaulted by
her half brother, Gerald Duckworth. Secondly,
her mother died in her early teens, shortly
followed by the death of her half sister, Stella
Duckworth. This was then followed by the long
slow death of her father to cancer in 1904. Her
brother Thoby died in 1906, which left Virginia
in the midst of a mental breakdown.
In 1904, shortly after her fathers death,
Virginia and her sister, Vanessa, moved to a
house in Bloomsbury, which was central to the
activities of the group. In 1905, Virginia
started writing for the Times Literary
Supplement. She married Leonard Woolf in 1912
together, they opened the publishing company,
Hogarth Press, which went on to publish
Virginias books. In 1923, Virginia met Vita
Sackville-West and began having a passionate
affair with her. After a final attack of mental
illness, Virginia loaded her pockets with rocks,
walked into the River Ouse, and drowned herself.
In her suicide note, she wrote to her husband
5
Lytton Strachey Born March 1, 1880
Died January 21, 1932
Born the eleventh of thirteen children, Strachey
became a famous British writer, specifically with
his form of biographies. The most famous example
of his biography style is probably Eminent
Victorians, which was four biographies of
Victorian heroes that detailed their faults,
flaws, and failures. He studied at Trinity
College, Cambridge, where he met his Bloomsbury
friends, including Leonard Woolf. Within the
group, Lytton was the first to use first names
and was also the first to approach the issue of
sex. It is said that he once pointed to a stain
on Vanessa Bells dress and asked, Semen?
Though homosexual, he was committed to several
women in his life. He actually proposed to
Virginia Woolf, but it was with Dora Carrington
to whom he was most devoted. They met in 1915,
where Dora fell in love Lytton. Shortly
thereafter, he moved into Doras home with her
husband, Ralph Partridge. The three were all
sexually involved. In 1931, Lyttons health
started declining rapidly from unknown causes.
In January 1932, he died from stomach cancer.
Three weeks later, Dora killed herself because
she was incapable of living without him.
His books included Landmarks in French
Literature (1912)Eminent Victorians Cardinal
Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Arnold,
General Gordon (1918)Queen Victoria (1921)Books
and Characters, French and English
(1922)Elizabeth and Essex A Tragic History
(1928)Portraits in Miniature and Other Essays
(1931)
Sources http//therem.net/bloom-lytton.htm and
http//bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/strachey.htm

6
David Bunny GarnettBorn 1892
Died 1981
Though raised in the ranks of the Bloomsbury
group, he was not officially considered a member
of the group until he became the lover of Duncan
Grant. David was actually married to the painter
Rachel Alice Marshall until she died in 1940. He
then married Angelica Grant in 1942, who was the
daughter of his former lover, Duncan Grant, and
Vanessa Stephen Bell. It is said that when
Angelica was just one day old, he wrote to
Strachey "I think of marrying it. When she is
20, I shall be 46 - will it be scandalous?" It
turned out it was scandalous. Even the liberal
Grant family was extremely disturbed that their
daughter would marry her fathers former lover.
He and Angelica ended up having four daughters
together.
  • Garnett is responsible for writing several books,
    including
  • Lady into Fox (1922)
  • The Sailor's Return (1925)
  • Aspects of Love (1955)

Sources http//bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/gar
nett.htm and http//www.tate.org.uk/archivejourney
s/bloomsburyhtml/group.htm
7
Vita Sackville WestBorn 1892 Died
June 2, 1962
Vita began writing poetry and plays when she was
just eleven years old. From the time she was
fourteen to eighteen, she wrote eight novels and
five plays. In 1913, at the age of twenty one,
she married Harold Nicholson, with whom she had
two sons. She tried to be a dutiful wife, but
when Harold informed her of his gay lover, they
lived happily in a purely platonic relationship
from that point forward. She had several lesbian
relationships, but her most famous was with
Virginia Woolf. She also had a very public
relationship with Violet Keppel. Violet was the
daughter of Alice Keppel, Edward VII's mistress.
Vita and Violets affair continued even after
Violet married. They eventually tried to elope to
Paris, but their husbands convinced them to come
home.
  • She is responsible for having written several
    books, including
  • Challenge
  • The Edwardians
  • All Passion Spent
  • Family History
  • The Land
  • The Garden
  • English Country Houses
  • After her death, her son Nigel Nicholson,
    published a book about her marriage, called A
    Portrait of a Marriage.

Source http//www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/vs-west.ht
m and http//bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/v_sack
ville_w.htm
8
E.M. ForsterBorn January 1, 1879 Died
June 7, 1970
Accidentally christened Edward Morgan, instead of
Henry Morgan, E.M. Forster had a difficult time
at Tonbridge School, because his classmates were
particularly harsh to Forster over his sexual
orientation. Eventually, Forster also ended up
attending college in Cambridge, where he was
associated with the Apostles, which had many
future Bloomsbury group members. He was also a
good friend of Virginia Woolf. His father died
before he was two years old, and the rest of life
is known for being dominated by his mother and
his aunts. Fortunately, one of his aunts
legacies provided him with the opportunity to
travel extensively and to write. In the winter
of 1916, he met a seventeen year old tram
conductor, Mohammad el-Adl, with whom he fell in
love with. Mohammad died from tuberculosis in
1922, but continued to act as the inspiration for
Forsters works.
  • He wrote over forty six short stories and many
    novels, including
  • Where Angels Fear to Tread
  • The Longest Journey
  • A Room With a View
  • Howards End
  • A Passage to India
  • Maurice
  • Artic Summer

Source http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._M._Forster
and http//bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/forste
r.htm
9
Leonard WoolfBorn November 25, 1880 Died
August 14, 1969
  • The Village in the Jungle - 1913
  • The Wise Virgins - 1914
  • International Government - 1916
  • Cooperation and the Future of Industry - 1918
  • Economic Imperialism - 1920
  • Empire and Commerce in Africa - 1920
  • Socialism and Co-operation - 1921
  • Fear and Politics - 1925
  • Essays on Literature, History, Politics - 1927
  • Hunting the Highbrow - 1927
  • Imperialism and Civilization - 1928
  • After the Deluge (Principia Politica), 3 vols. -
    1931, 1939, 1953
  • Barbarians At The Gate - 1939

Leonard was the third of ten children of Soloman
Rees Sydney and Marie Woolf. He attended Trinity
College at Cambridge, where he met Lytton
Strachey, Clive Bell, Thoby Stephen (Virginias
brother), John Maynard Keynes, and E.M. Forster.
In 1912, he married Virginia Stephen, and
together they became the center of the Bloomsbury
Group. He spent much of his time taking care of
his wife, who suffered from mental illness.
Together, though, they formed Hogarth Press, a
publishing house. He was the editor of several
publications, including International Review,
Contemporary Review, National Athenaeum, and
Political Quarterly. He also wrote several
books, including
Source http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Woolf

10
ARTISTS
  • Vanessa Bell
  • Duncan Grant
  • Roger Fry
  • Dora Carrington

11
Vanessa BellBorn May 1879 Died 1961
Vanessa, the older sister of Virginia Woolf,
started her artwork when she was seventeen years
old. Unlike Virginia, she felt repressed by
their fathers patriarchal parenting, and when he
died, was happy to move with Virginia and their
brothers to Bloomsbury. In 1907, she married the
art critic Clive Bell, but after having given
birth to their children, Julian and Quentin, the
couple slowly separated. Though still married to
Clive, she was an active couple with Roger Fry,
but later fell in love with the painter Duncan
Grant. Together with Grants lover, David
Garnett, the three moved into their farmhouse
which they named Charleston. With Grant, she
gave birth to Angelica, but always claimed that
Angelica was the daughter of Clive Bell for the
sake of society. Some of her works include
Source http//bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/bell
.html
12
Duncan Grant Born 1885 Died 1978
As a talented painter, Duncan Grant was a central
figure in the Bloomsbury group, courting many of
the members. His lovers included Adrian Stephen
(his future wife 's brother), David Garnett
(his future daughters husband), Lytton Strachey
(his cousin), Maynard Keynes, and Vanessa Bell.
He was, by all accounts, handsome, kind, and
charming. His artwork was also popular. He was
the co-director of the Omega Workshops, and some
of his artwork includes
Source http//bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/gran
t.htm
13
Roger FryBorn 1866 Died September 9, 1934
Fry coined the phrase Post-Impressionist for
the art world, and also founded the Omega
Workshops. He emphasized form over content, or
how a piece looked over what it meant. In 1924,
after short relationships with Nina Hamnett and
Josette Coatmellec, he met Helen Anrep, who was
twenty years younger than him. She left her
husband, and they lived happily together until
his death in 1934. His ashes were placed in a
vault in a coffin designed by Vanessa Bell. Some
of his works include
Though Roger studied at Cambridge in scientific
studies, he followed his college career by going
to Paris and Italy to study art. Relatively
soon, he became a famous artist and art critic.
In 1896, he married his wife Helen Coombe
however, she suffered from mental illness and was
forced to be admitted into a mental institution
until her death in 1937. Fry was forced then to
raise his children, Pamela and Julian, by
himself. He met Clive and Vanessa Bell in 1910,
but started an affair with Vanessa in 1911when he
traveled with them to Turkey, that ended soon
thereafter in 1913.
Source http//www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/rog-fry.ht
m
14
Dora Carrington Born March 29, 1893
Died March 11, 1932
After learning to paint at the Slade School of
Fine Art in London and also meeting John Nash and
Mark Gertler, Dora Carrington became a popular
artist. She preferred to be called,
Carrington, and rejected Mark Gertler for the
gay Lytton Strachey. In 1921, the cross dressing
Carrington married Ralph Partridge, with whom she
had a ménage a trois with Lytton. After Lytton
died in January 1932 from stomach cancer,
Carrington shot herself the following March after
realizing she could not live without him. Her
artwork was similar to Duncan Grant and Vanessa
Bells, but it was more natural and more naïve.
Some of her work includes
Source http//bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/carr
ington.htm and http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_C
arrington
15
Others in the Group
  • J. Maynard Keynes
  • Clive Bell

16
J. Maynard KeynesBorn June 5, 1883
Died April 21, 1946
Keynes was born to John Neville Keynes, an
economics professor at Cambridge University, and
Florence Ada Brown, the first woman mayor of
Cambridge. At 66, Keynes was a a close friend
to Virginia Woolf and other Bloomsburyists and a
lover to Duncan Grant. Even after Keynes married
the Russian ballerina, Lydia Lopokova, in 1918,
Keynes continued to give Grant money for the rest
of his life. Keynes was a brilliant economist
and is still considered one of the most important
economists ever. His theories are thought
responsible for the economic boom of Western
countries from 1945 to 1975, making it the Age of
Keynes. Not only was he an amazing economist,
but an impressive investor, too. In the Stock
Market Crash of 1929, his investments increased
13.2, while the rest of the worlds investments
decreased by 0.5.
  • Keynes died from a cardiac infarction in 1946.
  • His works included
  • The Economic Consequences of the Peace
  • Treatise of Probability
  • Treatise on Money
  • A Tract on Monetary Reform
  • General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
    (his greatest work)

Sources http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard
_Keynes and http//bloomsbury.denise-randle.co.uk/
keynes.htm
17
Clive Bell Born September 16, 1881 Died
September 18, 1964
Like the other Bloomsbury group members, the art
critic Clive Bell was educated at Trinity College
in Cambridge. In 1907, he met and married
Vanessa Stephen, Virginia Woolfs older sister.
After Vanessa gave birth to their two sons,
Julian and Quentin, the couple slowly fell apart.
Clive and Vanessa remained close friends,
spending family vacations together, and he
continued to support her financially. Together
with Roger Fry, he helped create several
important artistic ideas, including Significant
Form, Post Impressionism, and exhorting form over
content. His publication of Art in 1914 helped
him earn a permanent place in the art world.
Sources http//www.tate.org.uk/archivejourneys/bl
oomsburyhtml/group.htm and http//en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Clive_Bell
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