C harleston, a charming 17th-century farmhouse in East Sussex, England, might seem an unlikely place for a revolution. But when, in 1916, the painter Vanessa Bell and her friend and lover Duncan Grant moved in, along with his partner David Garnett, a creative rebellion began. Bell and Grant painted every surface, transforming the home into a living work of art and a gathering point for the Bloomsbury group, their set of fellow free-thinking artists, writers and intellectuals.
Fashion designer Kim Jones has repeatedly returned to the house as a source of inspiration since his first childhood visit. In August, he was appointed as vice president of the Charleston Trust and is now working to support initiatives in the lead-up to its 50th anniversary in 2030, including pledging works from his collection to “50 for 50,” a campaign to reacquire significant Bloomsbury works from private collections.
This month, Jones will curate “Radical Modernity: From Bloomsbury to Charleston,” a selling and loan exhibition at Sotheby’s London, featuring works from Charleston’s collection. Here he reflects on the group’s social progressiveness, creative contributions and his personal collection of their work, including paintings, design and books.
How did your interest in the Bloomsbury group begin?
I first went to Charleston at age 14 to go sketching in the garden because my family had a home nearby in Lewes. I remember going into the house and thinking how amazing its story was—all these people living together, being constantly creative. I didn’t know anything about them, but I was amazed by this way of life. I've still got the brochure from that day.
What do you admire about them?
They were a reaction against Victorian Britain. I love the way they shook things up. I like when people like the Beats or the punks change the way people dress or think. Some were from aristocratic families and very well thought of in society. Duncan Grant was gay—lots of them were gay—but they lived their lives as they wanted to. I think bravery is interesting. I’m sure they caused lots of scandals at the time, but they also changed the way people perceive things.
How did you begin collecting pieces by the group?
I started collecting ceramics that I’d find on eBay, and then I met a man called David Herbert, a collector of and specialist on the group, who introduced me to dealers. I didn’t realize how much was out in the public domain, or how prolific the artists were that worked at Charleston. I had naively assumed that everything was still at the house because it seemed so intact. But after Duncan died, before the house was deemed as something that needed to be saved, a lot of pieces were sold. That triggered my interest. I started collecting catalogs and going through auctions. David guided me and still does, and when I find something important, I’ll also message Nathaniel Hepburn, the director of Charleston, for his opinion. I try to be specific in collecting now because I was quite an omnivore before. My focus is primarily on books—especially Virginia Woolf—I think because my mother was an avid writer and reader, and we had a huge library at home. I didn’t realize until lockdown that I was copying the patterns of my parents, which I think we all do.
How has Bloomsbury inspired your work?
Doing the Duncan Grant collection for Dior Men was interesting, as he shared the same birthday as Christian Dior. I also had the link of Christian Dior’s love of art—he was a gallerist before he was a couturier—and the way that he styled his clothes was incredibly modern. In menswear, you have a very restricted silhouette to work within, especially when you’re working in a large house. It was fun to play around with how Duncan would dress himself. We took the idea of his silhouette and added the motifs of his works in a very graphic way to make it modern but still true to what he did.
How do you live with your collection?
At home, I’m constantly moving work around and trying to perfect stuff. It’s an ever-changing jigsaw puzzle because I like to see all the pieces but I use certain rooms more than others. I try to keep some things apart, but they eventually pull together. For example, I have a beautiful portrait by Vanessa Bell of her daughter Angelica and a Matisse portrait of Lorette, one of his favorite models. There’s something about the greens in them, I felt they should sit together. They slowly moved onto the same wall and stayed together.
How are you building on this passion in your new role as vice president of the Charleston Trust?
I look at everything as past, present and future. Charleston’s history is in the past, but there’s a lot that resonates in the present, so I’m working with Nathaniel and the team on how it will go into the future. We’re discovering more and more about Duncan, Vanessa, Roger Fry and other group members—about their work and what influenced them. Virginia is the leading light on the literary side and serves as many people’s first encounter, so she’s pivotal in how we introduce Bloomsbury to younger people. Whether through just talking about Charleston or creating my fashion collections, I’m doing it all for the next generation.
Can you explain the “50 for 50” campaign?
The team at Charleston is looking for important pieces that came from the house and can go back there, so visitors can see this living museum in its truest form. As a completist, I love the fact that Nathaniel is finding the truly significant things and letting the public know. If you’re in a position to donate a work, it will be going back somewhere it will be loved. Speaking for myself, it’s great that I can purchase art, but I also know it needs to be seen by people.
I understand you’ve pledged a portrait by Roger Fry, among other items.
Yes, it’s a portrait of author E.M. Forster that I got at auction. I have a huge collection of Forster books so I enjoyed the literary connection. Being a designer, I also love that there’s a mega fabric in it. The whole thing was painted with such expressiveness, including the suit. I was speaking with Nathaniel one day and he said, “I love this painting.” My first thought was, “Well, you can have it for Charleston.”
Why are you excited to curate the exhibition at Sotheby’s?
Not everyone can make the trip down to East Sussex to visit Charleston, or will necessarily know what it is. But the more people that see things in Sotheby’s, the more are likely to go. And it’s so valuable for people to see these artworks. We’re just guardians of what we have, objects go somewhere else after us.
In the newest episode of Sotheby’s Talks, Kim Jones, Dr Darren Clarke, Frances Wilson and Jen Hardie explore the Bloomsbury group and the unique aesthetic cultivated at Charleston, their rural retreat, which became a hub for creative collaboration and continues to inspire generations of artists and thinkers today.
