With a force 5 gale blowing and heavy showers sweeping in from the English Channel, the coastal city of Chichester is probably off the itinerary for today. We decide instead to take a drive in the country to visit a house called Charleston which was an artist colony for most of last century.
We had very little idea of what a treasure Charleston would turn out to be for us.
The modest two storey house, is in the country, on a farm (the smell of the dairy cows is all pervading today despite a roaring gale). The farm is part of a large estate owned by Lord Gage who rented the house (formerly a boarding house run by two spinster sisters) to the artist Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant from 1916 until Grant died in 1978.
The artists, writers and intellectuals who lived or visited Charleston become to be known as the Bloombury group. The list of notable who belonged to the group include Virginia Woolf (Vanessa's sister), TS Eliot, EM Foster, and surprisingly the economist John Maynard Keynes (one of Duncan Grant's lovers). Needless to say if only these walls could talk what incredible stories they could tell of all the art works, the intellectual discussions, and the dalliances. While intellectually and morally uninhibited the residents appear to have avoided the excesses of drugs and rich food, which may account for their longevity.
The artists also created and maintained a walled garden and pond. Not on the scale created by Monet at Giverny but big enough to provide inspiration, refuge and some extra food during the war years. Despite renting the house they painted pictures, floral designs and patterns on almost every surface; fireplaces, doors, furniture etc. Even to the point of painting over varnished furniture no surface was prepared just as they painted what they wanted to any where any time. They were free to please themselves. Four children were bought up in the house and most went onto become famous artists and potters and remember with much love the freedom they had as children living in the countryside.
We turned up at Charleston not expecting too much other than a way of filling in the morning, only to come away a few hours later with our imaginations on fire. Charleston is very modest and unpretentious but it is a must see for artists and art lovers.
