Duncan Grant

The first ever biography of Duncan Grant - one of the best known names in the British art scene and the most charismatic member or the Bloomsbury set.

Frances Spalding is an art historian, biographer and critic. Her acclaimed book, Roger Fry: Art and Life, was followed by a biography of Vanessa Bell, which led to an invitation ten years later to write on Duncan Grant. In between she wrote British Art since 1900, Stevie Smith: A Critical Biography and Dance Till the Stars Come Down: A Life of John Minton. She is currently editor of Charleston Magazine.

The life of the painter and designer Duncan Grant spanned great changes in society and art, from Edwardian Britain to the 1970s, from Alma-Tadema to Gilbert and George. This authoritive biography combines an engrossing narrative with an invaluable assessment of Grant's individual achievement and his place within Bloomsbury and in the wider development of British art. 'Spalding's skill is to sketch out the intricate emotional web against the bright bold untouchable figure of the artist. . . Her achievement is to let that sense of a man living with his craft shine through on every page: the result is an exceptionally honest and warm portrait. ' Financial Times

Frances Spalding

A sympathetic, fastidious and beautifully produced biography...a fascinating portrait of an unusual woman...exquisite

This stylishly produced biography is an objet d'art in its own right, while Spalding's prose adopts the economy of the illustrations: austere, pragmatic and wholly devoid of ostentation

Fine study of Darwin's grand-daughter and her role in the Bloomsbury movement

Friends, Family and Affections

'The best of these Darwins is that they are cut out of rock - three taps is enough to convince one how immense is their solidarity.' So wrote Virginia Woolf affectionately of Gwen Raverat, the granddaughter of Charles Darwin. 
 
In this first full biography, Frances Spalding looks beyond the artist Gwen Raverat's childhood memoir; Period Piece, and creates a fascinating and moving portrait of Charles Darwin's granddaughter. She explores her Darwin inheritance; her conflicts when she moves beyond her home environment to enter the Slade School of Art; her encounter with post-Impressionism; and her friendships with Stanley Spencer, Rupert Brooke and members of the Bloomsbury set. At each stage, Gwen's artistic creativity is interwoven with her relationships and circumstances. She helps revive the medium of wood-engraving and with her husband, Jacques Raverat, celebrates the South of France in the art they produce while living in Venice. 
 
Drawing on a huge cache of unpublished papers, Spalding brings us a life lived with bravery, humour; realism and integrity, surrounded by a remarkable cast of relatives, friends and associates.

Frances Spalding

Praise for Gwen Raverat

A sympathetic, fastidious and beautifully produced biography...a fascinating portrait of an unusual woman...exquisite

This stylishly produced biography is an objet d'art in its own right, while Spalding's prose adopts the economy of the illustrations: austere, pragmatic and wholly devoid of ostentation

Moving biography

A sympathetic, fastidious and beautifully produced biography...a fascinating portrait of an unusual woman...exquisite

This stylishly produced biography is an objet d'art in its own right, while Spalding's prose adopts the economy of the illustrations: austere, pragmatic and wholly devoid of ostentation

Moving biography

A sympathetic, fastidious and beautifully produced biography...a fascinating portrait of an unusual woman...exquisite

This stylishly produced biography is an objet d'art in its own right, while Spalding's prose adopts the economy of the illustrations: austere, pragmatic and wholly devoid of ostentation

Moving biography

Books by Frances Spalding

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