Charleston successfully raises funds to save Duncan Grant’s ‘Lessons in the Orchard’ painting
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The painting is one of the most important depictions of early life at Charleston and a favourite with visitors to the charity’s house and studio at Firle, Sussex. Charleston was the gathering place of the Bloomsbury group in the early 20th century and opened to the public in 1986. This painting has been on long-term loan ever since and has hung at her bedside since it was painted, and gifted to her by Duncan Grant, in 1917.
After securing £40,000 from Art Fund, Charleston launched a one-month public campaign to raise the additional £60,000 needed to buy the artwork. £45,000 was donated by over 250 members of the public, meaning that, alongside a £15,000 Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant, the painting has been permanently secured within Charleston’s world-leading collection of Bloomsbury artwork, and can be kept on display for generations to come.
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Hide Ad‘Lessons in the Orchard’ is a rare depiction of the wartime lifestyle of the Bloomsbury group in their rural home in Sussex and shows Duncan Grant’s early interest in French post-impressionism. It is a painting of political and social refuge - a work produced as the First World War raged, while Grant, a conscientious objector, was employed as an agricultural labourer. It represents a different sort of family, one that today would be called a chosen or queer family. It speaks of both domestic tranquillity and social privilege – two children enjoying lessons outdoors with their tutor Mabel Selwood. ‘Lessons in the Orchard’ also carries a more sombre meaning – one of Bell’s children, Julian, would die before his 30th birthday driving an ambulance in the war to protect Spain from fascism.


Nathaniel Hepburn, Director of Charleston, said: “We are thrilled that, with help from Art Fund, Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and National Lottery, and generous members of the public, we have been able to prevent this painting from going to auction and potentially disappearing from public view. It is clearly a painting that means a lot to many people. As part of our collection, not only can we make sure this important painting has a permanent home at Vanessa Bell’s bedside, but we can now loan the work to exhibitions around the world that expand the understanding of the Bloomsbury group and its legacy. It will also become a key work for our community and education work – as well as its art historical and family we’ll use it to explore the garden and landscape stories of Charleston.”
Virginia Nicholson, President of Charleston and Vanessa Bell’s granddaughter said:“People love this painting because it opens a window onto the magical early years that the Bloomsbury group spent at Charleston - that time when artists wandered about putting up their easels in the garden, when unruly children ran barefoot and tipped their governess into a ditch, and when it always seemed to be summer. Duncan Grant’s simple, beautiful composition suspends Quentin and Julian Bell and their nurse in a moment of perpetual sunshine, in the garden of the house that, all their lives, they loved best. And that’s where this vivid piece of Charleston enchantment should remain.”
Charleston, the gathering point of the Bloomsbury group and one of Sussex's most atmospheric cultural destinations, invites visitors year-round to experience the magic and beauty of the historic house and gardens at its home in Firle. Visitors can travel between Charleston in Firle and Charleston in Lewes, the charity’s new cultural venue, on the new Sussex Art Shuttle which also links with Towner, Eastbourne and the Seven Sisters Country Park.