CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Members of the Bloomsbury Group (including Vanessa Bell, third left) behind a fake plane; enjoying a drink at Charleston, home to Duncan Grant (second right) and Vanessa Bell; the studio at Charleston; Duncan Grant’s c1945 painting of Paul Roche Reclining; 46 Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, where the group first began to take shape
Averitable industry has grown up around Bloomsbury, the group of writers, artists and intellectuals that was, in poet Stephen Spender’s opinion, “the most constructive and creative influence on English taste between the two wars”. Its history and idiosyncrasies have become the subject of countless articles, books, exhibitions, documentaries, plays, TV series, films and ballets. Its reputation has travelled far, to many places around the world.