Duncan Grant (1885-1978)

Duncan Grant (1885-1978) was a Scottish painter and designer. He was a member and central figure of the Bloomsbury Group, a group of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century, including Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry, and Virginia and Leonard Woolf. He was also a member of the Camden Town Group, the London Group, and the London Artists' Association, and exhibited with the New English Arts Club, the Friday club, the Grafton Group.

Grant was best known for his paintings of figures, still lifes, and landscapes, however he also designed furniture, textiles, pottery, theatre sets, and costumes as part of the Omega Workshops, founded by Roger Fry in 1913. As well as fuelling the imagination, Omega provided an alternative source of income for many artists of the day, particularly fellow members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Virginia Woolf, Clive Bell and Ethel Sands.

In 1916, Grant moved with Vanessa Bell to Charleston in Sussex, where Grant lived until his death in 1978. Here he set up his artist studio, where he continued his artistic output.

Coming up for auction this summer...

On 4 June 2024, in our auction The Palmer Family at Bussock Wood, we are pleased to be offering two works by Duncan Grant. The first is Lot 94, a landscape work titled The Sussex Weald. The view, painted circa 1920, illustrates flat farmland looking east at the food of the downs with Firle Beacon to the right of the composition. This is a rare example of a panoramic landscape by Duncan Grant, moving away from his typical style of more focussed compositions. 

Also from the same collection is Lot 224, a black and brown chalk drawing of a seated woman. The work is signed and dated 1929. It was acquired by the Palmer Family in September 1974 from Gallery Edward Harvane in London, and is illustrated in Richard Shone's book 'Bloomsbury Portraits'. 

The style of this figure is very different to another work by Duncan Grant, titled Seated Nude and painted ten years earlier, circa 1918-19, which Dreweatts sold in October 2022, demonstrating the fluidity of Grant's artistic style, and how his ouevre developed. 

In addition, we have a wonderful work coming up in our Modern and Contemporary Art auction on 11 July 2024. The work shows a cream Italian jug painted in Grant's studio at Charleston. 

The composition bares remarkable similarities to Vanessa Bell's work Still life of Narcissi, Charleston, which Dreweatts sold back in October 2023 in the auction, Robert Kime: The Personal Collection. This painting was also likely painted in the early 1950s in Grant's studio at Charleston. The teapot is depicted on the high mantelshelf (where it can still be seen today in the same position, now with reduced spout).

The Duncan Grant Collection at St. Peter's College, Oxford

For those that are interested in the work of Duncan Grant, there is the wonderful Duncan Grant Collection at St Peter's College in Oxford, not far away from Dreweatts in Newbury. The JWM Collection is one of the largest private collections in the UK of works by Grant. On long-term loan to the College by a generous alumnus, the collection contains more than 100 pieces of Grant’s work, ranging in date from the very beginning of his career to the very end. This includes works in various different media, from watercolour portraits of famous Bloomsbury Group members, such as Vanessa Bell, to designs on mercerised cotton for cushion covers on the RMS Queen Mary.

Next time you visit us in Newbury, why not make the trip to St Peter's College? The collection is open to public viewings for both individuals and groups. For all enquiries please contact the College Archivist: archives@spc.ox.ac.uk

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Auction Details

The Palmer Family at Bussock Wood
Tuesday 4 & Wednesday 5 June, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

Browse Day One | Browse Day Two

Modern and Contemporary Art
Thursday 11 July, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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