WHEN Vanessa Bell took on the lease of Charleston Farmhouse in September 1916, it was full of Edwardian (and earlier) wall coverings. Together with Duncan Grant, she set to work whitewashing most of the interiors to create a blank canvas, with one of the first projects being the flowers painted around the window of her husband Clive’s study.
What many have remarked upon since was how ahead of their time—decoratively, as much as in other aspects—the friends were in their approach (Masterpiece, July 14). In a bold adieu to the fuss of the Victorian era, they emphasised the functionality of the furniture they painted. It was a time of thrift and uncertainty; it’s said you could hear the guns of the Western Front from Charleston.
The integration of ceramics, textiles, fabrics and decorated wall surfaces was highly unusual because it wasn’t for show. Charleston was a place of refuge and comfort. More than 100 years later, this decorative approach continues to inspire artists. Alistair Burtenshaw, the former director of Charleston Trust, the charity established after the death of Grant in 1978, explained in The Spectator that its charm is the collective whole of the house. ‘Its famous residents made it a place of refuge, ideas, inspiration, rebellion and exploration… It is a house that witnessed radical discussion of the way in which people live their lives.’
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