The Rollins Museum of Art is currently hosting Portrait of a Movement as a part of their Fall exhibition. This fascinating exhibit embodies The Bloomsbury Group in a new light through weaving in literature and visual art in a harmonic sequence. The Bloomsbury Group was a collection of artists in every form, from novelists to painters, and even critics. They proved to be extraordinarily innovative in the early 1900s and stood for the human intention of feeling for oneself. Their founders, Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry, and Duncan Grant ultimately created a path for modernism through post-impressionistic inspirations. The goal of Portrait of a Movement as a display is to shed light on The Bloomsbury Group’s intellectual dialogue with European modernism through this intriguing combination of art forms.  

The concept of this showing as a social movement begins with a set of literature written and created by members of The Bloomsbury Group from letters to biographies that lead us to Pamela, 1913 which was ascribed to Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. This overbearingly large, printed linen piece allows us to gaze from the ceiling and all the way down to the baseboard with the aim of setting the palette of the exhibit. The scalloped arcs and linework within Pamela provide the eye with vertical movement, despite its repetition in the colorful pattern. This work was ultimately crafted to bring praise to the Omega workshops within The Bloomsbury Group to represent a sense of creative freedom with a lack of gender bias in this abstract groupwork. 

Browsing from piece to piece, The Fiddler, Ca. 1925 by Walter Richard Sickert stands out with its elegant oil strokes in the form of an everyday man playing the fiddle. Sickert wanted to ensure this piece would give a realistic depiction of urban life in London with the painting of a street musician in various browns, reds, and greens in order to shine light on the time period and portrayal of the everyday working class. Not only are there still scenes, but the exhibit also provides us with portraits. One of these being Portrait of Paul Roche, CA. 1950 by Duncan Grant offers insight into Grant’s later life, along with subtly empowering the LGBTQ+ community in the mid-1900s before its decriminalization in England. This portrait paints the poet, Paul Roche, in a reserved silence with the emphasis of his features through gouache and bright contrasting colors of blue and yellow. After the passing of Grant’s partner and fellow founder of The Bloomsbury Group, Vanessa Bell, the artist began a relationship with Roche who became his muse until his passing in 1978. This piece grants a sense of sexual freedom in the queer community, especially within The Bloomsbury Group where the LGBTQ+ community was welcomed but hushed due to law restrictions during this time. This brings light to the sexually repressive government of England in 1950, all while hinting at the encouragement of embracing the beauties of life, sexuality, and shifting societal norms. 

The Rollins Museum of Art’s new Portrait of a Movement fall exhibition is an intellectually stimulating collection to walk through as it offers various societal movements through the combination of literature, critique, and painting. The Bloomsbury Group was quite honestly ahead of their time and highlighted increasingly important matters in society. This viewing is exhilarating to see in today’s time as each work still carries nearly as large of a significance as they did back then. From the creative social movement to the strategic placement of the paintings, this exhibit will immerse you into the inventive minds of The Bloomsbury Group in 20th century London.