Clive Bell
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Arthur Clive Heward Bell (16 September 1881 – 17 September 1964) was an English
art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
, associated with
formalism Formalism may refer to: * Form (disambiguation) * Formal (disambiguation) * Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary * Formalism (linguistics) * Scie ...
and the Bloomsbury Group. He developed the art theory known as significant form.


Biography


Origins

Bell was born in East Shefford, Berkshire, in 1881, the third of four children of William Heward Bell (1849–1927) and Hannah Taylor Cory (1850–1942). He had an elder brother (
Cory As a given name, Cory is used by both males and females. It is a variation of the name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word ''coire'', which means "in ...
), an elder sister (Lorna, Mrs Acton), and a younger sister (Dorothy, Mrs Hony). His father was a civil engineer who built his fortune in the family coal mines in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
in England and
Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...
in Wales – "a family which drew its wealth from Welsh mines and expended it on the destruction of wild animals." They lived at Cleeve House, Seend, near
Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...
, Wiltshire, where Squire Bell's many hunting trophies were displayed.


Marriage and other liaisons

Bell was educated at
Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...
and at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, studying history. In 1902 he gained an Earl of Derby scholarship to study in Paris, where his interest in art began. On returning to London early in 1907 he met and married Vanessa Stephen, the artist sister of
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...
. They had two sons, Julian and
Quentin Quentin is a French male given name from the Latin first name ''Quintinus'', diminutive form of '' Quintus'', that means "the fifth".Albert Dauzat, ''Noms et prénoms de France'', Librairie Larousse 1980, édition revue et commentée par Marie-T ...
, who both became writers. Julian joined the
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
side in the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
as an ambulance driver and was killed in 1937 by an enemy shell, aged 29.Hermione Lee, ''Virginia Woolf'', London: Vintage, 1997, pp. 697–698. By
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
their marriage was over. Vanessa had begun a lifelong relationship with
Duncan Grant Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major i ...
, and Clive had a number of liaisons with other women including Mary Hutchinson. However, Clive and Vanessa never officially separated or divorced. Not only did they visit each other regularly, they also sometimes spent holidays together and paid "family" visits to Clive's parents. Clive lived in London but often spent long periods at a farmhouse in
Charleston, Sussex Charleston, in East Sussex, is a property associated with the Bloomsbury group, that is open to the public. It was the country home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and is an example of their decorative style within a domestic context, repres ...
, where Vanessa lived with Duncan and her three children by Clive and Duncan. He supported her wish to have a child by Duncan and allowed his wife's only daughter, Angelica, to bear his surname. Vanessa's daughter by Duncan,
Angelica Garnett Angelica Vanessa Garnett (née Bell; 25 December 1918 – 4 May 2012), was a British writer, painter and artist. She was the author of the memoir ''Deceived with Kindness'' (1984), an account of her experience growing up at the heart of t ...
(née Bell), was raised as Clive's daughter until she married. She was informed, by her mother Vanessa, just prior to her marriage and shortly after her brother Julian's death, that Duncan Grant was her biological father. This deception forms the central message of her memoir, ''Deceived with Kindness'' (1984). According to historian Stanley Rosenbaum, "Bell may, indeed, be the least liked member of Bloomsbury.... Bell has been found wanting by biographers and critics of the Group – as a husband, a father, and especially a brother-in-law. It is undeniable that he was a wealthy snob, hedonist, and womaniser, a racist and an anti-Semite (but not a homophobe), who changed from a liberal socialist and pacifist into a reactionary appeaser. Bell's reputation has led to his being underestimated in the history of Bloomsbury...."


Significant form

Soon after Bell met
Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developme ...
, he developed his art theory significant form. The two shared a passion for contemporary French art. Bell's book ''Art'' (1914) was the first publication of his theory, which he describes as "lines and colours combined in a particular way, certain forms, and relations of forms, that stir our aesthetic emotions." This form can be seen in art created by many members of the Bloomsbury Group, an example being ''Interior at Gordon Square'' by Duncan Grant.


Political views

Bell was at one point an adherent of absolute pacifism, and during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
was a
conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
, allowed to perform Work of National Importance by assisting on the farm of
Philip Morrell Philip Edward Morrell (4 June 1870 – 5 January 1943) was a British Liberal politician. Background Morrell was the son of Frederic Morrell, a solicitor of Black Hall, Oxford, by his wife Harriette Anne, daughter of the President of St John's ...
MP, at Garsington Manor. In his 1938 pamphlet ''War Mongers'', he opposed any attempt by Britain to use military force, arguing "the worst tyranny is better than the best war."Susan Sellers, ''The Cambridge Companion to Virginia Woolf'' Cambridge University Press, 2010; , (p. 23).Lawrence James, ''Warrior Race: A History of the British at War'', Hachette UK, 2010; (p. 620). Ideas that Bell eventually supported the war are unproven, as Mark Hussey points out in his 2021 biography of Bell (p. 350 n1).


Works

*''Art'' (1914) *''Pot-boilers'' (1918) *''Since Cézanne'' (1922) *''Civilization'' (1928) *''Proust'' (1929) *''An Account of French Painting'' (1931) *''Old Friends'' (1956)


See also

*
List of Bloomsbury Group people This is a list of people associated with the Bloomsbury Group. Much about the group is controversial, including its membership: it has been said that "the three words 'the Bloomsbury group' have been so much used as to have become almost unusable" ...


References


Sources

*
Text of ''Art'' Gutenberg Project
*


Further reading

*Hussey, Mark, ''Clive Bell and the Making of Modernism: A Biography'' (2021). London: Bloomsbury Publishing.


External links

* *

''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 20 September 1964 (obituary) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Clive Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English conscientious objectors English art critics Stephen-Bell family Bloomsbury Group Philosophers of art People from Wiltshire Writers from London 1881 births 1964 deaths