(Above) Omega Workshops Pamela (1913), printed linen. Made in France. Picture courtesy Manchester City Art Gallery
Exhibition: Beyond Bloomsbury: Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-1919, The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, London, June 18 – September 20 2009.
This exciting new exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery aims to lift the Omega Workshops out of the context of the Bloomsbury Group and consider it as a boldly ambitious experiment in design with a far-reaching influence.
(Above) Omega Workshops Design for Peacock Stole, gouache and pencil on paper. Picture courtesy The Courtauld Gallery, London
Founded by artist and influential critic Roger Fry in the summer of 1913 at 33 Fitzroy Square, Omega Workshops Ltd involved some of the most avant-garde artists of the day and produced radically-designed objects for the home.
The products produced at the Omega workshops acted as a beacon of opposition to the mainstream Edwardian culture and aesthetics. In 1913 Fry said: "It is time that the spirit of fun was introduced into furniture and fabrics. We have suffered too long from the dull and stupidly serious."
(Above) Omega Workshops (attributed to Duncan Grant) Plate painted with a sailboat (1913). Commercial plate painted over the glaze. Picture courtesy The Courtauld Gallery, London
During their brief six-year operation the Workshops produced a series of bold and inspiring designs. Virginia Woolf, George Bernard Shaw, HG Wells, EM Forster, Ottoline Morrell and Maud Cunard were Omega Workshop clients. Visiting intellectual grandees, notably Gertrude Stein, also made visits to the Omega.
Fry insisted that all the pieces were produced anonymously and were marked with the W (Omega) symbol in a square. Artists behind the brand included, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Wyndham Lewis, Frederick Etchells, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Winifred Gill.
(Above) Design for a scarf or rug, gouache and pencil on paper. Picture courtesy The Courtauld Gallery, London
Virginia Woolf recalled the lively atmosphere: "There were bright chintzes designed by the young artists; there were painted tables and painted chairs and there was Roger Fry himself escorting now Lady So-and-so, now a businessman from Birmingham, round the rooms and doing his best to persuade them to buy."
(Above) Omega Workshops Mechtilde (1913), printed linen. Made in France. Picture courtesy Manchester City Art Gallery
The exhibition features highlights such as a Peacock Stole made of chiffon silk which was never sold in the workshop and has not been seen for more than 50 years. The stole is painted with a bold motif of confronting peacocks and is reunited with two preparatory drawings held in The Courtauld's collection.
A further pull for the Bloomsbury fan is Vanessa Bell's painted screen, Bathers in a Landscape – a transitional piece between fine and decorative art.
(Above) Omega Workshops (Vanessa Bell) Bathers in a Landscape Four-fold Screen (1913). Gouache and pencil on paper laid on canvas. Picture courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The exhibition unites the largest collection of surviving working drawings of the Omega workshops, which were bequeathed to the Courtauld by Fry's daughter, Pamela Diamand, in 1958.
The variety of pieces in the exhibition range from ceramics, tableware, textiles to painted furniture and clothing.
Roger Fry in the Omega Workshops
Open 10am-6pm (3.30pm on July 6). Admission £5/£4 (free for under-18s, full-time students and the unemployed, no admission charge before 2pm on Mondays).
Exhibition events:
Curator's talks on July 1, August 5 and September 2, 5.15pm-6pm.
Lunchtime talks on June 26, July 10, August 7, August 21, September 4 and September 18, 1.15pm-1.30pm.
Tours every Sunday between June 21 and September 20, 3pm-3.45pm (except August 23).
Public lecture by Professor Christopher Reed on July 7, 6pm-7pm.
Study day on September 12, 10am-3pm.
Family activities August 22 and 23, 11am-5pm.
Admission to all events free with admission, except study day (£35/£30, call 020 7848 2678 to book). For more information visit the Courtauld Gallery online or call 020 7848 2526.
Keep up to date with Culture24's exhibition news, reviews and previews with iGoogle - a more personal way to use Google.com
