This weekend we eventually got round to visiting St Ives to see Virginia Woolf An Exhibition Inspired by Her Writings at the Tate. Before discussing the exhibition, a few words about Virginia Woolf and St Ives.
The Stephen family (Virginia Woolf’s parents, her brother and sister and herself) spent their summer holidays there, in Talland House, from 1881 to 1895 (Virginia was born in 1882 and she spent her first summer there.) It had a profound influence on her work as well as on the work of her sister, Vanessa Bell, who was a painter. The house has long since been converted into flats (you can read about that here). The house and, in particular Godrevy Lighthouse, were to play a role in her work, particularly in To the Lighthouse. Godrevy Lighthouse was quite some distance – the not very good photo to the left, above is taken from near where Talland House was.
Another famous resident of St Ives was Barbara Hepworth and her house is now a museum. Many of her works are on display in the small garden, like the one to the right. (There is another Hepworth Gallery, in Wakefield, where she was born. It is just a few miles from Leeds and an easy train or bus ride from there. More of her work can be seen at the nearby Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which is accessible by bus).
Getting back to the Woolf exhibition, what made this exhibition so interesting is that it was not particularly about Woolf (though, clearly, in part it was) but that all the works were inspired directly or indirectly by Woolf and all were by female artists. Some of the artists I was familiar with. For example, there were several by Laura Knight who had had an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery a couple of years ago we very much enjoyed. There were quite a few works by Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf’s sister, as well as works by Gwen John, Sandra Blow, Dora Carrington and other well-known names. There were also quite a few by artists I had ever heard of, including some very modern ones.
I will particularly mention Ithell Colquhoun. She is not so well-known as her work is surrealist, which was less popular, particular as regards women surrealist artists. She is also interesting as she wrote a strange novel, called Goose of Hermogenes. (I have a copy but I do not plan to read it any time soon.) (She wrote two others, one never completed. I Saw Water was published posthumously.)
The exhibition finishes this week but will be going to the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester in May and then to the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge in October. If you can get to either, you should find it well worth your time.