Quentin Bell
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Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 August 1910 London, England |
| Died | 16 December 1996 (aged 86) Sussex, England |
| Education | Leighton Park School |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Occupations | Art historian & author |
| Employer(s) | Durham University University of Leeds University of Oxford University of Hull University of Sussex |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 son; 2 daughters |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Virginia Woolf (aunt) Leonard Woolf (uncle) Cressida Bell (daughter) Virginia Bell (daughter) Julian Bell (brother) Angelica Garnett (half-sister) Amaryllis Garnett (niece) Henrietta Garnett (niece) |
Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell (19 August 1910 – 16 December 1996) was an English art historian and author.[1]
Early life
Bell was born in London, the second and younger son of the art critic and writer Clive Bell and the painter and interior designer Vanessa Bell (née Stephen).[2] He was a nephew of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen).[3] He was educated at the Quaker Leighton Park School and at Cambridge.[4][5]
Career
After being educated at Leighton Park School and in Paris, Bell became a Lecturer in Art History at the Department of Fine Art, King's College, University of Durham from 1952 to 1962, then became the first Professor of Fine Art at the University of Leeds from 1962 to 1967. While there he allowed art and english student Sue Crockford to study two films even though film was not yet regarded as an art form.[6] During 1964–65, he was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University and, during 1965–66, Ferens Professor of Fine Art at the University of Hull. Bell was a Professor of the History and Theory of Art at the University of Sussex from 1967 to 1975.
He sometimes worked as an artist, principally in ceramics, but for his career he was drawn to academia and to book-writing. Bell's biography of his famous aunt, Virginia Woolf: A Biography, 2 vols (London: Hogarth Press, 1972), won not only the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, but also the Duff Cooper Prize and the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award. He also wrote several books on the Bloomsbury Group and Charleston Farmhouse.[8]
Bell retired in 1975 and later worked as a potter.[9] He was also a painter and sculptor, producing the sculpture Levitating Woman, 'The Dreamer' in 1982, on view at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery in Leeds.[7][10]
His portraits are held in the National Portrait Gallery, London.[9] His portrait was painted by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.[11]
Family
He was married to Anne Olivier Bell (née Popham). They had three children: Julian Bell, an artist and muralist; Cressida Bell, a textile designer; and Virginia Nicholson,[12] the writer of Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden, Among the Bohemians and Singled Out. Bell had an older brother, the poet Julian Bell, who died in the Spanish Civil War in 1937. The writer and artist Angelica Garnett was his half-sister, and Amaryllis and Henrietta Garnett were his nieces.
Death
Quentin Bell died in Sussex,[13] and is buried in the churchyard of St. Peter’s Church, West Firle, East Sussex.
References
- ^ Smith, Charles Saumarez (23 September 2005), "Bell, Quentin Claudian Stephen (1910–1996)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/64052, ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8, retrieved 20 October 2025
- ^ "Quentin Bell (1910–1996)". UK: Royal Academy. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
- ^ "Vanessa and Virginia" Susan Sellers
- ^ "'The Messiah' by Quentin Bell and Virginia Woolf". The British Library. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ Simkin 2014.
- ^ Davin, Anna (13 April 2023), "Crockford, Susan Rosalind (1943–2019), film-maker and community activist", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381078, ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8, retrieved 26 August 2023
- ^ a b "Quentin Bell – Levitating Woman, known as 'The Dreamer'". UK: University of Leeds. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
- ^ Essays, Poems and Letters (1938), edited by Quentin Bell.
- ^ a b "Quentin Bell (1910–1996), Artist and writer; son of Clive and Vanessa Bell". UK: National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
- ^ "Artists: Quentin Bell 1910–1996". ArtUK. UK. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
- ^ "People: Quentin Bell 1910–1996". ArtUK. UK. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
- ^ "Virginia Nicholson-Biography". UK: virginianicholson.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ^ Spalding, Frances (18 December 1996). "Obituary: Professor Quentin Bell". The Independent. UK.
Bibliography
- Simkin, John (2014). "Quentin Bell". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
External links
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| How to use archival material |
- The Quentin Bell Collection at the Victoria University Library at the University of Toronto
- "Eminent Charlestonians with illustrations by Quentin Bell and text by Virginia Woolf" Archived 22 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine via Discovering Literature at the British Library
Portraits of Quentin Bell at the National Portrait Gallery, London
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