[Vwoolf] "Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury To Charleston"

Sun Nov 10 10:46:35 EST 2024

I saw a little while ago a message from Elaine about the Buddha image,
which I now cannot find on this thread, such being my computer competence.

Anyhow yes, indeed, Elaine, the Avalokiteshvara, about-to-be-Buddha, is the
prime suspect here. To confirm this, he is holding a lotus bud in one hand
(and never mind if it is not a full-blown lotus flower as often shown).
But he is pointing down with two fingers of his other hand, a posture not
often associated with him. It's not touching-the-earth  posture either, for
which he'll need to be seated.

And yes, the Avalokiteshvara is male to start with, as in India and in
Charleston, but is later transformed into a female deity called Guan Yin in
China and in the image you sent. There, s/he acquires instead, as shown in
your image, a long-necked pot which is full of compassion and which she is
often shown as holding upside down so that drops from it may fall on the
suffering humanity.

Once, I bought in Hong Kong a totally kitschy little statue of Guan Yin in
which water was falling drop by slow drop into the mouth of a crocodile at
G's feet, and then being recycled by some clever little Chinese technology
hidden inside to her pot, so that the pot never emptied. To atone for this,
I then bought a proper scholarly book on Guan Yin too.

But the question remains: who in Bloomsbury could have brought that
Buddha/Bodhisattva to Charleston?

Best wishes.
Harish

Best wishes.

Harish Trivedi

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 at 19:45, Harish Trivedi <harish.trivedi at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear Vara
>
> Thanks for your prompt response.
>
> The image and the article you attached from H&G, which had photos of that
> sculpture from other angles too, are very helpful.  And yes, it seems to be
> the Buddha all right, though the two hand-postures (*mudras*) seem to be
> only half-familiar to me for they are seldom shown to go together.
>
>  The article on "Oriental Bloomsbury" may turn out to have something on
> the provenance of this piece of sculpture if and when I can access that
> article (it's beyond a hefty paywall, as usual), though it looks a little
> too broad in scope.  (Dickinson, Russell, Empson, Acton -- all in
> Bloomsbury?)   Has anyone read this article?
>
> As for Forster, he did see a fair bit of Indian sculpture *in situ* on
> his two visits to India in 1912-13 and 1021-22, before he published *A
> Passage to India*. But in that novel, he (creatively) erased even the
> carvings that actually are there on the Barabar caves, so as to make his
> Marabar caves primordially bare and featureless.
>
> When Forster was setting off on his second visit to India, Virginia Woolf
> said, perhaps half-jokingly and half-solicitously, that he might be leaving
> England forever. "He will become a mystic, sit by the roadside and forget
> Europe."  Nothing like that happened, of course, and F remained very much a
> British Liberal sceptic.
>
> Despite its many "muddles,"  *Passage* " remains probably the best novel
> ever written about India by a Westerner, and therefore the closest that
> Bloomsbury got to India in creative terms.  A collection of new essays has
> recently appeared to mark the centenary of its publication and it has about
> half a dozen passing references to Virginia Woolf, and a couple to Leonard
> too.  (See https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://orientblackswan.com/details?id=9789354429293__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JeJQK_Iw-$    -- and
> excuse the self-promotion!)
>
> As for VW and India, I'll shortly write another mail to this list with
> some more queries.
>
> Best wishes.
> Harish
>
> Harish Trivedi
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 at 09:10, Neverow, Vara S. <neverowv1 at southernct.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Harish,
>>
>> The webpage I inserted below has a much better photograph of the
>> sculpture on the mantel of the fireplace (and also has an amazing number of
>> other photographs of Charleston).
>>
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/charleston__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JePct-26Q$ 
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/charleston__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JePct-26Q$ >
>> The interiors of Charleston: the house the Bloomsbury Group turned in to
>> a living work of art
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/charleston__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JePct-26Q$ >
>> Nestled in bucolic Sussex gardens the seventeenth-century exterior belies
>> the riot of imaginative decoration inside; a legacy of its function as
>> artistic residence to the Bloomsbury Group.
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.houseandgarden.co.uk__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JeD50i3G3$ 
>> This article looks like it might be of relevance:
>> Ira Nadel <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.euppublishing.com/author/Nadel*2C*Ira__;JSs!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JeEDHnoIX$ >
>> "Oriental Bloomsbury"
>> Modernist Cultures, February 2018, vo. 13, No. 1 : pp. 14-32
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/mod.2018.0192__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JeM2O5ZV3$ 
>> The abstract states:
>> The multiple and occasionally contradictory response of Bloomsbury to the
>> Orient is the focus of this essay which also considers the reverse: the
>> Orient's response to Bloomsbury and the promotion of their texts in the
>> East. From Roger Fry to G. L. Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, and Vanessa Bell,
>> the Orient became a source of aesthetic interest and problematized
>> politics. French Orientalism and Proust initially corroborated the
>> experiences of Woolf in Constantinople and Leonard Woolf in Ceylon, soon to
>> be revised by new views of Imperial authority. Yet Bloomsbury and the
>> Orient artistically depended on each other, at one point Fry scolding
>> Bloomsbury and England that ‘we can no longer hide behind the Elgin marbles
>> and refuse to look at the art of China’. And look they did, from attending
>> museum shows to collecting Oriental art and furniture, while adopting
>> Oriental fashions – and, when possible, traveling to China and Japan marked
>> by visits by Bertrand Russell, William Empson, and Harold Acton. The
>> response of individual Bloomsbury writers to the Orient mixes curiosity and
>> jealousy. To her nephew Julian Bell, teaching at Wuhan University, Woolf
>> wrote that ‘you are much to be envied. I wish I had spent three years in
>> China at your age’.
>>
>> E. M. Forster's *A Passage to India *might also have some traces of
>> relevance regarding Indian art.
>>
>> I hope this response is somewhat helpful.
>>
>> Best,
>> Vara
>>
>> Vara Neverow
>> (she/her/hers)
>> Professor, English Department
>> Editor, *Virginia Woolf Miscellany*
>> Southern Connecticut State University
>> New Haven, CT 06515
>> 203-392-6717
>> neverowv1 at southernct.edu
>>
>> *I acknowledge that Southern Connecticut **State University was built on
>> traditional territory of the indigenous peoples and nations of the
>> Paugussett and Quinnipiac peoples.*
>>
>>
>> *Recent Publications:*
>>
>> Lead editor, *Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources *(Bloomsbury,
>> 2020; with Jeanne Dubino, Kathryn Simpson, and Gill Lowe); Editor, Volume
>> One, 1975-1984, *Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources* (Bloomsbury,
>> 2020); Co-editor, *The Edinburgh Companion to Virginia Woolf and
>> Contemporary Global Literature* (Edinburgh, 2020; with Jeanne Dubino,
>> Paulina Pająk, Catherine Hollis, and Celiese Lypka)
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* Harish Trivedi <harish.trivedi at gmail.com>
>> *Sent:* Saturday, November 9, 2024 10:05 PM
>> *To:* Neverow, Vara S. <neverowv1 at southernct.edu>
>> *Cc:* vwoolf listerve <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu>
>> *Subject:* Re: [Vwoolf] "Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury To
>> Charleston"
>>
>> Thanks for this.
>>
>> Could someone please identify the sculpture on the mantelpiece depicting
>> the Buddha/ a Hindu deity?  Do we know who acquired it (Vanessa/Duncan
>> etc.) and in what circumstances?
>>
>> Is a better photo of it available somewhere?
>>
>> I am especially curious as the Bloomsbury group appears to have had
>> little interest in Indian art— or did they?
>>
>> Best wishes.
>>
>> Harish Trivedi
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 9 Nov 2024 at 8:19 PM, Neverow, Vara S. via Vwoolf <
>> vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Greetings, "Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury To Charleston," Sotheby's
>> and Charleston's free London exhibition curated by Kim Jones ("Free & Open
>> to the Public from 9 – 26 November"): https: //www. charleston. org.
>> uk/press/sothebys-and-charleston-unite-for-a-two-part-exhibition-celebrating-the-bloomsbury-group-curated-by-kim-jones/
>> Greetings,
>>
>> "Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury To Charleston," Sotheby's and
>> Charleston's free London exhibition curated by Kim Jones ("Free & Open to
>> the Public from 9 – 26 November"):
>>
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.charleston.org.uk/press/sothebys-and-charleston-unite-for-a-two-part-exhibition-celebrating-the-bloomsbury-group-curated-by-kim-jones/__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JeAzI2aH_$ 
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.charleston.org.uk/press/sothebys-and-charleston-unite-for-a-two-part-exhibition-celebrating-the-bloomsbury-group-curated-by-kim-jones/__;!!KGKeukY!0wbxDlH59or105RtN1AyADko9WbYWl7fiox6TwlsWkzM8L0DFrtiRpfWT6JX2fURZu0PISDNyNj2OzQ4egtauv0LSCbW$>
>>
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.charleston.org.uk/press/sothebys-and-charleston-unite-for-a-two-part-exhibition-celebrating-the-bloomsbury-group-curated-by-kim-jones/__;!!KGKeukY!0wbxDlH59or105RtN1AyADko9WbYWl7fiox6TwlsWkzM8L0DFrtiRpfWT6JX2fURZu0PISDNyNj2OzQ4egtauv0LSCbW$>
>> Charleston — Sotheby’s and Charleston Unite for a Two-Part Exhibition
>> Celebrating The Bloomsbury Group, Curated by Kim Jones
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.charleston.org.uk/press/sothebys-and-charleston-unite-for-a-two-part-exhibition-celebrating-the-bloomsbury-group-curated-by-kim-jones/__;!!KGKeukY!0wbxDlH59or105RtN1AyADko9WbYWl7fiox6TwlsWkzM8L0DFrtiRpfWT6JX2fURZu0PISDNyNj2OzQ4egtauv0LSCbW$>
>> The exhibition features rarely-seen works
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.charleston.org.uk__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JeBv6zblV$ 
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.charleston.org.uk__;!!KGKeukY!0wbxDlH59or105RtN1AyADko9WbYWl7fiox6TwlsWkzM8L0DFrtiRpfWT6JX2fURZu0PISDNyNj2OzQ4egtauuixoY5i$>
>>
>>
>>
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theweek.com/culture-life/art/vanessa-bell-a-world-of-form-and-colour-an-expansive-exhibition__;!!KGKeukY!zSg66oAIgftsNGMMVHVFLsQJgbAEUIItJn1drfT6zu-nxssQYu3vwo0u9QRFf8WovfPHmun60uqktz4l0c5JeILssm1v$ 
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theweek.com/culture-life/art/vanessa-bell-a-world-of-form-and-colour-an-expansive-exhibition__;!!KGKeukY!0wbxDlH59or105RtN1AyADko9WbYWl7fiox6TwlsWkzM8L0DFrtiRpfWT6JX2fURZu0PISDNyNj2OzQ4egtauvIpgTfB$>
>>
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theweek.com/culture-life/art/vanessa-bell-a-world-of-form-and-colour-an-expansive-exhibition__;!!KGKeukY!0wbxDlH59or105RtN1AyADko9WbYWl7fiox6TwlsWkzM8L0DFrtiRpfWT6JX2fURZu0PISDNyNj2OzQ4egtauvIpgTfB$>
>> Vanessa Bell: A World of Form and Colour – an 'expansive' exhibition
>> <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://theweek.com/culture-life/art/vanessa-bell-a-world-of-form-and-colour-an-expansive-exhibition__;!!KGKeukY!0wbxDlH59or105RtN1AyADko9WbYWl7fiox6TwlsWkzM8L0DFrtiRpfWT6JX2fURZu0PISDNyNj2OzQ4egtauvIpgTfB$>
>> The 'sweeping' show features over 140 works from paintings to ceramics
>> theweek.com
>>
>> [image: Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant painted much of Charleston's
>> interiors (Image: Lee Robbins)]
>> Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant painted much of Charleston's interiors
>> (Image: Lee Robbins)
>> Works by the Bloomsbury group will go on loan and up for sale at an
>> exhibition hosted by a London auction house.
>> The event at Sotheby’s will celebrate art and literature by the
>> Bloomsbury group, with works for sale alongside loans from the collection
>> at Charleston, near Firle.
>> Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury To Charleston, a private selling and
>> loan exhibition in collaboration with Charleston, will highlight the
>> “indefatigable spirit of the Bloomsbury Group” across paintings, drawings,
>> furniture, ceramics and literature by Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Roger
>> Fry, Virginia Woolf and Henry Lamb.
>> As part of the exhibition, the historic farmhouse will be loaning some of
>> its most significant pieces, many not usually on public view.
>> They include recent acquisitions made as part of Charleston’s 50 for 50
>> campaign, a hunt for the best Bloomsbury works still in private collections
>> to help mark the forthcoming 50th anniversary.
>> In 2030, Charleston will celebrate 50 years since the charity that saved
>> it was established.
>> The Bloomsbury group was a circle of intellectuals including artists and
>> writers in the 20th century. Charleston, the home and studio of painters
>> Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, became one of the hubs where the group met.
>> The Sotheby's exhibition is free and runs from November 9 to 26.
>> Best,
>> Vara
>> Vara Neverow
>> (she/her/hers)
>> Professor, English Department
>> Editor, *Virginia Woolf Miscellany*
>> Southern Connecticut State University
>> New Haven, CT 06515
>> 203-392-6717
>> neverowv1 at southernct.edu
>>
>> *I acknowledge that Southern Connecticut **State University was built on
>> traditional territory of the indigenous peoples and nations of the
>> Paugussett and Quinnipiac peoples.*
>>
>>
>> *Recent Publications:*
>>
>> Lead editor, *Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources *(Bloomsbury,
>> 2020; with Jeanne Dubino, Kathryn Simpson, and Gill Lowe); Editor, Volume
>> One, 1975-1984, *Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources* (Bloomsbury,
>> 2020); Co-editor, *The Edinburgh Companion to Virginia Woolf and
>> Contemporary Global Literature* (Edinburgh, 2020; with Jeanne Dubino,
>> Paulina Pająk, Catherine Hollis, and Celiese Lypka)
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Vwoolf mailing list
>> Vwoolf at lists.osu.edu
>> https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vwoolf
>>
>>
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