In Oct 2020, an extraordinary collection of over 400 erotic sketches by British artist, Duncan Grant (1885-1978), came to light. The collection was thought to have been destroyed but had secretly been passed from lover to lover, friend to friend, for over 60yrs.
Thread!
Grant was a painter, a textile designer, theatre designer & pottery artist. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group &, although most of his love affairs were with men, he did have well as a relationship with Vanessa Bell (Virginia Woolf’s sister), with whom he had a child
Grant was born seven months before the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act, also known as the Labouchère Amendment, which criminalised all male homosexual sex in England.
It was the law that was used to persecute Oscar Wilde and Alan Turing, as well as countless other gay men. Grant could never live openly as a gay man in his lifetime.
He had many lovers - his cousin, the writer Lytton Strachey, Arthur Hobhouse (a politician) and the economist John Maynard Keynes. It’s thought many of the men in the pictures were also his lovers.
Grant had a daughter with Vanessa Bell, who was married to Clive Bell, with whom she had two sons. Shortly before WW1, Vanessa, Clive, Duncan Grant & Duncan's lover David Garnett all moved in to Charleston Farmhouse together .
The writer Dorothy Parker is said to have quipped that the 'Bloomsbury paints in circles, lives in squares and loves in triangles.'
On 2 May 1959, Grant his friend Edward le Bas a folder containing 400 erotic illustrations. He marked the folder, “These drawings are very private.”
It was thought that Le Bas’ sister had destroyed them after he had died, but she hadn’t. The collection had secretly been passed to from lover to lover, friend to friend, until they wound up in the hands of theatre designer Norman Coates, who kept them under his bed for 11 years
Charleston Farmhouse where Grant lived is now a museum & gallery. After learning the Charleston was at risk of insolvency after coronavirus, Coates generously donated the collection to Charleston, where is remains. bbc.co.uk/news/av/entert…
The museum was saved & Grant’s work was finally out the closet for everyone to see. Incidentally, The Charleston are currently holding a spectacular Duncan Grant exhibition that I am definitely going to. You can get more information about here.
(The Charleston Trust © The Estate of Duncan Grant)
Also, what a #HistoricalHottie 😍
And I managed to missed actually tagging @CharlestonTrust in this thread completely. Please give them a follow to keep up with the amazing work they do preserving the art & history of Duncan Grant. They are wonderful.
I mean…
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