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Rug design

Maker

Attributed to
(artist)
1879-1961

Alternatively attributed to
(artist)
1885-1978

Title

Rug design

Date of Production

1913 - 1915

Medium

graphite and bodycolour over a grid of pen and black ink lines, on wove paper, with a pinhole at each corner; loss of lower centre edge made up

Dimensions

Height: 42.5 cm
Width: 57.3 cm

Accession Number

D.1958.PD.7

Mode of Acquisition

Pamela Diamand, gift, 1958

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

© Estate of Vanessa Bell. All rights reserved, DACS 2023. © Estate of Duncan Grant. All rights reserved, DACS 2023

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords





Related Works

Rug design Rug design

Label Text

This drawing was made during an intense period of creativity for Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, lovers at the time and working closely together. Omega works were never signed, so we cannot be certain which of the two artists created this drawing. Bell's and Grant's rug designs are amongst the earliest examples of abstract art in Europe, and led them to experiment briefly with pure abstraction in their paintings. In 2021, The Courtauld commissioned a rug based on this drawing, made of recycled fibres.

Provenance

Roger Fry (1866-1934); by descent to his daughter Pamela Diamand; Pamela Diamand Gift 1958

Exhibition History

Vanessa Bell: A Pioneer of Modern Art, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 25/05/2024-06/10/2024

Vanessa Bell: A World of Form and Colour, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 19/10/2024-23/02/2025

Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), Dulwich Picture Gallery, 08/02/2017-04/06/2017 ...More

Beyond Bloomsbury - Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-19, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/06/2009-20/09/2009 ...Less

Literature

Beyond Bloomsbury - Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-19, Courtauld Gallery, London, 2009
cat. no. 13
ill. on p. 98

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Collector's mark: none.

Inscription: Verso: lower right, blue ink: “HHF 263.” and added after in graphite: “/?”.

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