[Vwoolf] Fw: Query Regarding a Nurse Lugton Illustration

Kristin Czarnecki Kristin_Czarnecki at georgetowncollege.edu
Sun Aug 28 14:26:55 EDT 2016


Hello, Everyone,


I received an utterly fascinating and spine-tingling email yesterday and am sharing it with you now, below, with the sender's blessing. I had no idea Woolf shared what we know as "Nurse Lugton's Curtain" with Vanessa, let alone that Vanessa then created art to go along with it. I've never seen this beautiful painting and wondered if anyone else might be familiar with it. I told Lisa that I'm certainly no art expert but that it sure looks like an authentic Bell to me! I've answered her queries as best I can and encouraged her to join the IVWS. She told me in her next email that she (who inherited the paintings) and her sister (who inherited the books) are planning a summer trip to the Bell exhibition in London and then to Monks House and Charleston. I've also told her about the annual conference and that next year we're in Reading. It would be fun to welcome her into our fold!


Best,


Kristin


Kristin Czarnecki
President, International Virginia Woolf Society
Associate Professor of English
Georgetown College, Pawling Hall 110
Georgetown, KY 40324
502-863-8132



________________________________
From: Lisa Hubbert <lisa at hubbert.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2016 12:16 PM
To: Kristin Czarnecki
Subject: Query Regarding a Nurse Lugton Illustration

Dear Professor Czarnecki,

I was referred to you by Agatha Barc, a librarian at Victoria University, when I wrote an inquiry to the library regarding a curious illustration that I recently inherited from my grandmother. Two months ago I knew virtually nothing about Virginia Woolf or Vanessa Bell, but since coming into possession of this little mystery I have been on quest to learn more about both. I understand that you have written about the illustrations for Nurse Lugton’s Curtain, so I am writing to share this with you, and to ask if perhaps you have any additional insights.

To give you a little background, my grandmother was an avid Bloomsbury fan. In her library were many first edition VW books, as well as original artwork by Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Dora Carrington and others. The most curious one is an illustration for Nurse Lugton’s Curtain. It is stamped with a “VB” in the bottom left corner. The composition bears much in common with the illustration credited to Duncan Grant that is at Victoria University - the cross-hatching at the bottom of the frame, the position of the text around the nurse’s body - even the handwriting. The Grant illustration is generally cited to be from “196?,” presumably created after the story was discovered in the holograph of Mrs. Dalloway in 1965. Knowing that Bell passed away in 1961, I was unable to understand how the illustration could have possibly been created by her. I then uncovered that a typed manuscript of Nurse Lugton had been found among the Charleston Papers at Cambridge (https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0272%2FPP%2FCHA%2F4%2F3). This fact raises the possibility that the story circulated between the sisters while they were both alive - that the story had a life outside the pages of the Mrs. Dalloway manuscript.

I have included a photo below. You can see the hand of Vanessa Bell. The shape and position of the nurse’s head, for example echoes Bell’s cover art for the Hogarth publishing of Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown. I have no real way to know for certain that the illustration is by Bell, except to reach out to experts, like you, who might be able to give more insight. No response is required, but If you do have any thoughts I would be most interested to hear them. I would also be very interested in finding your writing on the illustrations of Nurse Lugton if you could point me to where it might be purchased.

In any case I hope you enjoy seeing the piece. I have also included my other favorite, a portrait noted on the back as “Portrait of the Artist’s Mother,” who would be, of course, Julia Stephen. Both are absolute treasures to me. Whether or not I uncover any additional information, I have been the wonderful gift of discovery of Bell’s art and Woolf’s words.

Regards,
Lisa Hubbert
San Francisco, CA

[cid:31651413-A8BB-4401-A5D6-1A4557652093 at hubbert.org]

[cid:1DB095EC-8E94-44C9-8681-BE7200007C3C at hubbert.org]
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