[Vwoolf] Fw: Query Regarding a Nurse Lugton Illustration

Sun Aug 28 15:51:20 EDT 2016

Thanks for this letter and pictures. It is touching to share the 
writer's excitement in her discovery. What a thrill! I love the way 
things keep turning up!

Jean

On 8/28/2016 11:26 AM, Kristin Czarnecki wrote:
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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