Abstract

Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) was once named «the most important woman painter in Europe», but a century later, she is not yet a household name. Bell has been overshadowed by more famous members of the Bloomsbury group and her establishment of the home as a site of modernity only recently acknowledged. This essay contextualises the collection of Bell at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in relation to other British museums and her former home, Charleston. It reveals the prominence of her work as a designer and painter of interiors, and interest her private life, and highlights the increased interest in Bell in rehangs of UK institutions.