Mandatory Reading Materials
Title: Rediscovering Dora Carrington: The Forgotten Artist of the Bloomsbury Group
Painter Dora Carrington may not be a household name, but her work—intensely personal, stylistically bold, and emotionally evocative—is finally receiving long-overdue recognition. A new exhibition at Pallant House Gallery in the UK explores Carrington’s life and legacy, positioning her as far more than just a side character in the storied lives of Bloomsbury Group figures like Lytton Strachey and Virginia Woolf. This showcase, accompanied by critical reflections such as those by historian Rosemary Hill, probes deeply into Carrington’s artistry, relationships, and singular vision.
Who Was Dora Carrington?
Born in Hereford, England in 1893, Dora de Houghton Carrington was a painter and decorative artist associated with the Bloomsbury Group—a circle of intellectuals, writers, and artists who challenged Victorian norms and championed new modernist ideas in art and literature. Though Carrington rarely exhibited her work during her lifetime and was often overshadowed by her more famous male contemporaries, her contributions, particularly in portraiture, reveal a rich psychological depth and a stylistic maturity.
Her life was anything but conventional. Carrington rejected the traditional roles prescribed to women in early 20th-century England. She had relationships with both men and women but held an abiding and complex love for Lytton Strachey, the gay writer and critic. Their emotional entanglement was both nurturing and fraught but ultimately one of the most defining aspects of her life.
Portraiture as Intimacy: Subjects That Spoke to Her
Carrington’s deeply personal nature is reflected in her portraits, which vary in emotional tone and technical execution depending on her relationship with the sitter. As Rosemary Hill notes, Carrington once wrote that “the discovery of a person, of an affection, of a new emotion, is to me next to my painting, the greatest thing I care about.” That emotional investment—or lack thereof—often seeped into the canvas.
For example, her 1920 portrait of novelist E.M. Forster is technically sound but emotionally flat, reflecting perhaps a cool or neutral attitude toward the subject. Conversely, her portrait of Gerald Brenan, painted when the two were entangled in a romantic affair, exudes raw intimacy; Brenan stares out of the painting with such intensity that it feels like a private moment is being intruded upon.
Similarly, her 1916 portrait of Lytton Strachey, shown in profile with his eye visible behind his glasses, captures both vulnerability and intellectual poise. The composition cleverly uses color and posture to bring out his multifaceted personality—a gentle satire perhaps but also a heartfelt study.
Artistic Influences and Style
Carrington was not immune to the major movements of her time. Her works show evidence of Post-Impressionism’s bold use of color, and some critics detect nods to the Viennese Secessionists, whose elegant forms and symbolism infiltrated the aesthetics of European modernism.
But Carrington was never formally aligned with any particular art movement, and this autonomy gave her a certain freedom. A striking self-portrait from 1913, for example, shows her striding forward in baggy trousers, red heels, and a corps cap. It’s both a declaration of her nonconformity and a reflection of early 20th-century artistic experimentation.
A Life Marked by Emotional Complexity
Carrington’s story is often read through the lens of her relationships—particularly her devotion to Strachey, their strained yet tender domestic life, and her grief after his death. After Strachey passed away in 1932, Carrington was inconsolable and tragically ended her own life shortly thereafter. For years, her legacy was clouded by this tragic narrative and dismissed in favor of her more prolific Bloomsbury peers.
However, insights like those shared by Hill and increasing academic and curatorial interest in her work help to restore Carrington’s rightful place in art history—not as a muse or footnote, but as a serious and innovative artist in her own right.
Carrington Today: A Reassessment
The 21st-century art world is finally beginning to reckon with the legacy of overlooked women artists like Dora Carrington. The Pallant House exhibition—centered not just on her works but also on her diaries, letters, and philosophies—offers a holistic view of a woman who resisted categorization and challenged the artistic norms of her time.
In revisiting Carrington’s life and work, we’re asked to rethink not only who gets remembered in art history but why. Her intimate, emotionally charged paintings reflect a deeply personal artistic journey intertwined with complex human relationships and bold expressions of gender and identity.
In a world where narratives of art history are being newly challenged and redefined, Carrington’s long-suppressed voice is finally being heard—and it speaks volumes.