The Ever-Fascinating Bloomsbury Group

As many readers know, the Bloomsbury Group of writers, artists, and critics lived, met, wrote, and painted in and around the Bloomsbury area of London (as well as outside of London) before, during, and after World War II. Many of them met through the Stephen family, whose most famous member is Virginia Woolf (about whom I posted on 2/26/10). The other main point of connection was Cambridge University, where most of the male members of the group studied. Besides Virginia Woolf, the most prominent members of the group were her husband Leonard Woolf, the publisher and writer; E.M. Forster, the great novelist; Virginia's sister Vanessa Bell, an artist; Vanessa's husband, Clive Bell, an art critic; Vanessa's lover, Duncan Grant, a painter; John Maynard Keynes, the famous economist; Lytton Strachey, a great and very witty writer; Roger Fry, a painter; and Desmond McCarthy, a critic. There were others on the periphery of the group as well. Many of the members were related professionally, familially, maritally, and sexually. They were known not only for their literary and artistic work, but for being progressive in their ideas about art, literature, politics, economics, and social issues, as well as in their own lifestyles. There have been hundreds, perhaps thousands of books and articles written about this group and its members; it has always had a fascination, even a sort of magic, for those of us who care about literature and art. During their time, and even now, their talent, their dedication to the arts, their flouting of many of society's "rules" and norms, and their intricate and often shifting relationships with each other over time seemed and seem both enviable and the source of much gossip and sometimes disapproval. Over the years, I have read many books by and about this group, their work, and their entanglements, and never grow tired of learning more about them. I also visited (from the outside only) some of their former homes in London. Although I acknowledge that they had their faults, they were and are enormously influential, and -- still -- fascinating!