Fry's and Bell's Take on Art

These articles really make me proud to consider myself an artist. They know very well who an artist is, and how they conceive their art. Fry called them "prophets, the articulate soul of mankind, and protestant." I liked Bell's quote, which he states that an artist may fall in love with anything, always being thrown into a state of mind, and finds any inspiration to express his art. We call this A.D.D.
Fry does make the sad observation that only a small amount of artists really understand art. Art takes commitment, and saying that it is, "at the mercy of the lowest common denominator of their individual natures, which is dominated by fear, and compromise." I understand this very well.
The socialist understanding of an Artist can be hard to deal with sometimes. The need to eat can really drive an artist away from what they want to create. However, like Fry said, an artist has to be committed to succeed. Even if no one knows their name before their dead. The Art was created by the artist, hence the aesthetic is also the artist, for himself or others.

The Dynamic Personality of Virginia Woolf

Vanessa was the eldest among the Stephen' siblings. Virginia, being two and a half years younger, may not have had seen herself as having the same responsibilities of Vanessa. Vanessa seemed envious of her beauty, and charm. Even as a baby, Vanessa remembers Virginia drumming on her high chair, getting extra money from her godparents, and how her and Thoby would love to make her, "purple with rage." I imagine they got more into trouble with their caretakers, than Virginia ever did. I think Vanessa is trying to find answers to why Virginia would often reach a suicidal state of depression. Vanessa remembers many fond memories of Virginia, but also remembers how Virginia would be so excited one moment and silent the next. She refers to it as, "a tense thundery gloom."

I think one of Vanessa's fondest memories with her siblings is when they acted out their mockery of the Dilke family in the days they spent in their nursery. They spoke of finding, "large stores of gold, " and "the wonderful things they could buy in consequence, " and they would act out their performance till they fell asleep. Virginia also remembers, after they rested, after a "whooping cough", Virginia was different. Vanessa didn't recognize the facial features she associated with her before, but recognized her as gaining a "new layer of consciousness." Virginia's mind became openly curious about a lot of things, and seemed to find something to learn from many different observations, many from her readings.

Shortly after Thoby left for school, Virginia and Vanessa became much closer. I don't see anything more exciting to them as they sat in the drawing room reading, writing, and painting. Earlier in the letter, Vanessa recalls how children always refer to their siblings as in some sort of competition with one another, but, now that they are eleven and a half, and nine, they find a way of communication that was very productive for both of them.

I think vanessa understands that even though she loves her sister very much, she never fully understood her. Virginia was always surprising Vanessa as a child, and continued to surprise her as an adult, even though her jealousy of Clive and Virginia may have been misplaced. Vanessa never got to really know Virginia. The only thing they seemed to relate to the most was their lust for art.

The art of Vanessa Bell

Vanessa Stephen, otherwise known as Vanessa Bell, was the eldest daughter of Sir Leslie and Julia Stephen. As well as, the eldest sister of Virginia Woolf. Her family lived in Hyde Park until the death of her father in 1904. Vanessa along with Virginia, and their two brothers, Thoby and Adrian, moved to Gordon square where they became heavily involved in Bloomsbury culture. Vanessa was, most of all, a very gifted painter. She was very versatile, and loved experimentation.
The painting seen here is Iceland Poppies. It came from the post-impressionism era right before WWI. It premiered at her lover's, Roger Fry's, art gallery, The New England Art Club in 1910, and was met with much respect. The National Gallery of Art claims that the use of light and shadows make the painting surprisingly realistic, almost like a polaroid. Iceland Poppies is also one of the only paintings to survive the century. As well as, remain in Vanessa's possession till her death. It hung in her life partner's, Duncan Grant's, studio until a bomb was, inconsiderately, dropped on it in 1940. It was taken to her house in Charleston, where it remains today.
Vanessa premiered the painting a year after she finished it, and three years after her marriage to Clive Bell in 1907. Clive and Vanessa were both extremely close with Virginia, but Vanessa, as well as many others couldn’t help thinking there was something else to Virginia's and Clive's Friendship. She became extremely jealous of their relationship, and separated herself from Clive only a few years after they were married. Simon Martin writes that the painting is a consequence of the three's relationship with each other. If you look at the painting you see an opium jar, a medicine vile, a teacup, two white Poppies, one red Poppie, and three stripes marking the platform in the back. Martin makes the assumption that Vanessa relates one object from each grouping to either Clive, Virginia, or herself, and subsequently attaching some sort of characteristics to the three Bloomsbury artists.
Some other paintings are Studland Beach, The Tub and Shop.

Bibliography
Dawley, Janice E. Vanessa Bell. Time and Tide. September 11, 2009. [http://therem.net/bloom-vanessa.htm]
Gillespie, Diane Filby. The Sisters’ Arts: The Writing and Painting of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Syracuse, New York.: Syracuse University Press. 1988.
Martin, Simon. Before Post-Impressionism: Vanessa Bell’s Iceland Poppies. News and Careers. September 11, 2009. [http://www.charleston.org.uk/newscareers/canvas/simonmartin.html]
Vanessa Bell. The Collection: National Gallery of Art. September 11, 2009. [http://asms.k12.ar.us/classes/humanities/britlit/97-98/bell/blwbpg.htm]