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Virginia Woolf: Art, Life and Vision
"Words are an impure medium… better far to have been born into the silent kingdom of paint." – Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf’s many novels, notably Night and Day (1919), Jacob’s Room (1922), Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and The Waves (1931), transformed ideas about structure, plot and characterisation. The third child of Leslie and Julia Stephen, and sister of Vanessa (later Bell), Woolf was a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group: that union of friends who revolutionised British culture with their innovative approach to art, design and society in the early years of the twentieth century.
Portraiture figured greatly in Woolf’s life. Portraits by G.F. Watts and photographs made by her aunt, Julia Margaret Cameron, furnished rooms in which she lived. Written portraits were produced in the family home; her father, Leslie Stephen, published short biographies of Samuel Johnson, Pope, Swift, George Eliot and Thomas Hobbes, while editing the first twenty-six volumes of the Dictionary of National Biography. Throughout her life, Woolf, a sharp observer and a brilliant wordsmith, composed memorable vignettes-in-words of people she knew or encountered, and was herself portrayed by artists and photographers on many occasions.
This beautifully illustrated book, like the exhibition it accompanies, catches Woolf’s appearance and that of the world around her, but it also points to her pursuit of the hidden, the fleeting and obscure, in her desire to understand better the place and moment in time and in history in which she lived. In charting the emotional milestones in Woolf’s life – her love affairs, wartime experiences and the depression that resulted in her suicide in 1941 – author Frances Spalding acknowledges the seen and unseen aspects of her subject; the outer and the inner, the recognisable and the concealed.
Virginia Woolf’s many novels, notably Night and Day (1919), Jacob’s Room (1922), Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and The Waves (1931), transformed ideas about structure, plot and characterisation. The third child of Leslie and Julia Stephen, and sister of Vanessa (later Bell), Woolf was a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group: that union of friends who revolutionised British culture with their innovative approach to art, design and society in the early years of the twentieth century.
Portraiture figured greatly in Woolf’s life. Portraits by G.F. Watts and photographs made by her aunt, Julia Margaret Cameron, furnished rooms in which she lived. Written portraits were produced in the family home; her father, Leslie Stephen, published short biographies of Samuel Johnson, Pope, Swift, George Eliot and Thomas Hobbes, while editing the first twenty-six volumes of the Dictionary of National Biography. Throughout her life, Woolf, a sharp observer and a brilliant wordsmith, composed memorable vignettes-in-words of people she knew or encountered, and was herself portrayed by artists and photographers on many occasions.
This beautifully illustrated book, like the exhibition it accompanies, catches Woolf’s appearance and that of the world around her, but it also points to her pursuit of the hidden, the fleeting and obscure, in her desire to understand better the place and moment in time and in history in which she lived. In charting the emotional milestones in Woolf’s life – her love affairs, wartime experiences and the depression that resulted in her suicide in 1941 – author Frances Spalding acknowledges the seen and unseen aspects of her subject; the outer and the inner, the recognisable and the concealed.
192 pages, Paperback
First published August 31, 2014
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About the author
Frances Spalding
70 books16 followersFrances Spalding CBE, FRSL (née Crabtree) is a British art historian, writer and a former editor of The Burlington Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 4, 2014
This is a wonderful book. I enjoyed reading it. I loved looking at it. This book has been researched and compiled very well but most importantly of all, this book is beautifully presented. It accompanies an exhibition curated by Frances Spalding at the National Portrait Gallery, London: 'Virginia Woolf: Art, Life and Vision'. This glossy book catalogues and is over-glowing with photographic and painted portraits of Virginia, photographs of Virginia's ancestors, family and friends, numerous artworks by members of The Bloomsbury Group, copies of handwritten letters, archive material from The Hogarth Press, and much more.
This book is hardly problematic; it feels like such a treat to read, but I would like to point out some issues I have with the way some biographical information has or has not been detailed.
1. I am concerned about how little attention is given to Virginia's complicated relationship with her step-brother George and Gerald Duckworth. Whilst I certainly did not expect an in-depth (psycho)analysis, I would have appreciated more comment on the issues and their impact on her wellbeing.
2. The significance of Virginia's relationship with Vita Sackville-West is barely discussed, is allocated very little page-space and therefore feels a little undermined.
3. As part of the exhibition Virginia's walking stick which she left for her husband Leonard Woolf to find beside the River Ouse where she drowned herself in 1941 is being displayed. I would have like to have seen a photograph of this never-before-exhibited object in the book.
4. Furthermore, whilst the book includes a photograph and helpful transcript of the handwritten letter (displayed at the exhibition) that Virginia wrote to her sister Vanessa Bell just prior to her disappearance and subsequent suicide, neither of the letters Virginia wrote to Leonard at that desperate time are included in the book despite the fact that one of these letters is currently on display at the NPG. I am disappointed at this omission from this official exhibition catalogue.
Therefore I would like to give this book a Goodreads 4.5 star rating.
This book is hardly problematic; it feels like such a treat to read, but I would like to point out some issues I have with the way some biographical information has or has not been detailed.
1. I am concerned about how little attention is given to Virginia's complicated relationship with her step-brother George and Gerald Duckworth. Whilst I certainly did not expect an in-depth (psycho)analysis, I would have appreciated more comment on the issues and their impact on her wellbeing.
2. The significance of Virginia's relationship with Vita Sackville-West is barely discussed, is allocated very little page-space and therefore feels a little undermined.
3. As part of the exhibition Virginia's walking stick which she left for her husband Leonard Woolf to find beside the River Ouse where she drowned herself in 1941 is being displayed. I would have like to have seen a photograph of this never-before-exhibited object in the book.
4. Furthermore, whilst the book includes a photograph and helpful transcript of the handwritten letter (displayed at the exhibition) that Virginia wrote to her sister Vanessa Bell just prior to her disappearance and subsequent suicide, neither of the letters Virginia wrote to Leonard at that desperate time are included in the book despite the fact that one of these letters is currently on display at the NPG. I am disappointed at this omission from this official exhibition catalogue.
Therefore I would like to give this book a Goodreads 4.5 star rating.
October 3, 2018
VIRGINIA WOOLF: ART, LIFE AND VISION
Written by Frances Spalding
2014, 192 pages
Genre: writer, biography, art
Rating: ★★★★
This book is a brief biography of Virginia Woolf's life - from how her parents met to the day she was found drowned on her own accord. While it gives you the highlights of a young Virginia Stephens' rise to an author and her descent into depression I found what I loved about this book was the art. In this book we have art from Vanessa Bell, Virginia's sister and photographs from a famous family friends to portraits of other people from her time. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Woolf, art and writing.
My Novelesque Life
Written by Frances Spalding
2014, 192 pages
Genre: writer, biography, art
Rating: ★★★★
This book is a brief biography of Virginia Woolf's life - from how her parents met to the day she was found drowned on her own accord. While it gives you the highlights of a young Virginia Stephens' rise to an author and her descent into depression I found what I loved about this book was the art. In this book we have art from Vanessa Bell, Virginia's sister and photographs from a famous family friends to portraits of other people from her time. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Woolf, art and writing.
My Novelesque Life
November 9, 2018
An excellent short biography of Woolf written to accompany an exhibition from a few years ago. The book is heavily illustrated and the text is weighted towards studying the importance of art to the work of Virginia Woolf. There are numerous photographs, both personal and from professional sittings, many examples of paintings that were relevant to her life and books, along with a good selection of Hogarth Press book jacket designs by Vanessa Bell.
March 22, 2023
This is a slightly different book for me to review, and the exhibition it was related to is but a memory, but this excellent and brilliantly illustrated book sets out not only Virginia Woolf’s life and times, but also has so many pictures of every type. It was actually produced to go alongside an exhibition in 2014 at the National Portrait Gallery, and accordingly it reproduces in beautiful quality most of the pictures displayed; it is like having an exhibition at home without the travelling and no crowds! Furthermore, as the text is written by Frances Spalding who is a noted art historian, critic and biographer, Professor of Art History and an expert on the Bloomsbury Group among related subjects, every caption as well as the extensive text is written with real authority.
For those who enjoy portraiture like myself, it has over a hundred photographs, portraits and illustrations to delight in. Some are well known featuring Virginia herself, but it also portrays family and friends, those she met and admired, those who were of significance in her life and works. There are also the illustrations from early printed editions of her work, many of which were produced by her sister Vanessa for the small press which Virginia founded with her husband Leonard, as well as illustrations of her homes. Each picture is fully captioned in an informative way. Some of the illiustrations compliment the well -known pictures with less well known images, including Virgina’s close family and friends. Her connections with literary world from her young adult life onwards, as well as her sister’s involvement with the world of art means that there are some well known people’s images here, reaching back to the early photography of Julia Margaret Cameron and up to the mid-1940s.
The text of the book is also a considerable achievement. There has been so much written about Virginia Woolf, as well as her own considerable output of novels, essays, diaries, and other writing that to tackle a biography of her life and influence is a considerable undertaking, both to write and even read. Apparently the standard biography by Hermione Lees is some 900 pages, and her husband and others wrote first hand biographies of her which are a substantial body of work especially when seen as the part of the Bloomsbury group. This book relates her life and works in a far more approachable form, but with no compromises on the essential details. It places her work in context as the ground breaking writing as it was, and also includes reference to her important relationships and friendships. There are footnotes placed at the end of each chapter, a Chronology, Further Reading, Acknowledgments, Picture Credits and an extensive Index.
This book combines portraits of many kinds with a well written Life, and stands as a robust academic introduction to a much admired writer. Virgina wrote “Nothing has really happened until it has been recorded”, and this book revels in that recording in so many ways. It is very readable, as the biography at its heart flows so well between the admirable illustrations. I have long had an interest in Woolf and her contemporaries, read most of her novels and some of her other works, and I found much to interest me in this revealing book. It covers the well known material, but also those elements of her life that are hinted at, especially with reference to the paintings and photographs which capture her and those she met. It is a wonderful introduction to Virginia Woolf for anyone wishing to know more about this influential writer, and those who are expert in her writings and life will find new ways to think about her life and times with relatively obscure illustrations so well presented. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the literary and artistic world of the first half of the twentieth century and who enjoys a beautifully presented book.
For those who enjoy portraiture like myself, it has over a hundred photographs, portraits and illustrations to delight in. Some are well known featuring Virginia herself, but it also portrays family and friends, those she met and admired, those who were of significance in her life and works. There are also the illustrations from early printed editions of her work, many of which were produced by her sister Vanessa for the small press which Virginia founded with her husband Leonard, as well as illustrations of her homes. Each picture is fully captioned in an informative way. Some of the illiustrations compliment the well -known pictures with less well known images, including Virgina’s close family and friends. Her connections with literary world from her young adult life onwards, as well as her sister’s involvement with the world of art means that there are some well known people’s images here, reaching back to the early photography of Julia Margaret Cameron and up to the mid-1940s.
The text of the book is also a considerable achievement. There has been so much written about Virginia Woolf, as well as her own considerable output of novels, essays, diaries, and other writing that to tackle a biography of her life and influence is a considerable undertaking, both to write and even read. Apparently the standard biography by Hermione Lees is some 900 pages, and her husband and others wrote first hand biographies of her which are a substantial body of work especially when seen as the part of the Bloomsbury group. This book relates her life and works in a far more approachable form, but with no compromises on the essential details. It places her work in context as the ground breaking writing as it was, and also includes reference to her important relationships and friendships. There are footnotes placed at the end of each chapter, a Chronology, Further Reading, Acknowledgments, Picture Credits and an extensive Index.
This book combines portraits of many kinds with a well written Life, and stands as a robust academic introduction to a much admired writer. Virgina wrote “Nothing has really happened until it has been recorded”, and this book revels in that recording in so many ways. It is very readable, as the biography at its heart flows so well between the admirable illustrations. I have long had an interest in Woolf and her contemporaries, read most of her novels and some of her other works, and I found much to interest me in this revealing book. It covers the well known material, but also those elements of her life that are hinted at, especially with reference to the paintings and photographs which capture her and those she met. It is a wonderful introduction to Virginia Woolf for anyone wishing to know more about this influential writer, and those who are expert in her writings and life will find new ways to think about her life and times with relatively obscure illustrations so well presented. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the literary and artistic world of the first half of the twentieth century and who enjoys a beautifully presented book.
December 9, 2025
A National Portrait Gallery publication that, fittingly, contains a lot of excellent images - including many that I haven't seen before (I've followed Woolf for decades). The full-length ones, in particular, exude her individuality and unexpected beauty.
I also liked little touches such as the well-done Chronology (complete, of course, with images) at the end.
I took off 1 star because the book has a few glitches, such as typos, and some aggravating choices (the photos on pages 2 and 4-6 are captioned on the last page of the book - along with copyright information - for some unfriendly reason). But most of it is a feast for the eyes.
I also liked little touches such as the well-done Chronology (complete, of course, with images) at the end.
I took off 1 star because the book has a few glitches, such as typos, and some aggravating choices (the photos on pages 2 and 4-6 are captioned on the last page of the book - along with copyright information - for some unfriendly reason). But most of it is a feast for the eyes.
August 19, 2023
In this beautiful book, Frances Spalding breathes fresh life into the familiar milestones of Woolf's writing life by looking at it through the prism of 90 works from public and private collections, documentary photographs, and extracts from Woolf's writings.
January 26, 2020
Excellent illustrations, beautifully reproduced and providing a useful way into a better understanding of Virginia Woolf's life. We;; structured and clearly written.
July 18, 2024
3.5 Stars - it was very deep-diving at the beginning but at the end it was rushing through. What I really liked was the collection of pictures, photos and diary entries.
January 16, 2016
Ah, Virginia Woolf and art, what's not to like? Finally managed to pick up a copy of this NPG catalogue/biography just before Christmas. Packed with images from the last Woolf exhibit (sadly missed) and an erudite text by Dr Frances Spalding, this is a delight for anyone remotely interested in Woolf and, to some extent her fellow Bloomsberries. A brilliant and evocative mix of paintings (mostly by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant of course) and photographs by both professionals such as Man Ray and her friends, including Vita Sackville-West.
Of course, the volume has to end on a tragic note, Woolf did suffer from life-long mental illness and was, ultimately a suicide, but this is primarily of a celebration of a great writer who virtually invented the modern novel. Her work at the Hogarth Press connected her to James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, TS Eliot, EM Forster as well as a host of other, now lesser known writers, many of whom are snapped in casual photos with Woolf.
This is far more than a 'coffee-table' book displayed to make the reader appear cultured and intelligent. Spalding's style is both accessible and academic and a definite for those of us who know there was far more to Woolf and her sister than the dreadful recent BBC outing 'Life in Squares' depicted. If that nonsense was to be believed, Woolf rarely picked up a pen and that of course is to do her a huge and disgusting disservice. If, like me, you are already a devotee of the sublime Virginia, this is definitely for you.
Of course, the volume has to end on a tragic note, Woolf did suffer from life-long mental illness and was, ultimately a suicide, but this is primarily of a celebration of a great writer who virtually invented the modern novel. Her work at the Hogarth Press connected her to James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, TS Eliot, EM Forster as well as a host of other, now lesser known writers, many of whom are snapped in casual photos with Woolf.
This is far more than a 'coffee-table' book displayed to make the reader appear cultured and intelligent. Spalding's style is both accessible and academic and a definite for those of us who know there was far more to Woolf and her sister than the dreadful recent BBC outing 'Life in Squares' depicted. If that nonsense was to be believed, Woolf rarely picked up a pen and that of course is to do her a huge and disgusting disservice. If, like me, you are already a devotee of the sublime Virginia, this is definitely for you.
December 24, 2016
I loved this! It's a companion volume to an exhibition I attended at the National Portrait Gallery in London; basically a short but beautifully and very thoroughly illustrated biography of Virginia Woolf. There are lots of visual treasures in here, and insightful discussion of them. This perspective on her life and work brought me new delights, and I'm sure I'll browse and re-read whenever I want to immerse myself again in the Woolfs and all they stood for.
Recommended for anyone interested in Virginia Woolf. If you're new to her, this makes a great introduction. If you already know her, I'm sure this will become a treasured tome.
Recommended for anyone interested in Virginia Woolf. If you're new to her, this makes a great introduction. If you already know her, I'm sure this will become a treasured tome.
May 20, 2015
This was like re-reading something, since there was not new information. I've read so much about V.W. and her circle. Very pleasant and beautiful illustrated. I especially enjoyed seeing the book jackets designed by V.B. (There's a little show of them at the NMWA in DC right now but not large enough for an ex. cat. This could serve instead.)
I was interested too
I was interested too
September 6, 2014
An outstanding introduction to Virginia Woolf and her life and work.
November 30, 2014
An informative text and beautiful images...many of which I hadn't seen before. A very good evocation of the artist and her times which bridged the Victorian and Modern Eras.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews