Beyond Bloomsbury at The Courtauld Gallery

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, what do you do except go into town to mingle with the tourists and take a trip to Somerset House to visit the 'Beyond Bloomsbury' exhibition in the Courtauld Gallery. Surprisingly it wasn't crowded and, even more surprisingly, it was free (are Sundays free in the summer?). It's a small but good exhibition and well worth visiting if you have some time to while away and you're in the area of The Strand.

To quote the blurb:

Established in 1913 by the painter and influential art critic Roger Fry, the Omega Workshops were an experimental design collective, whose members included Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and other artists of the Bloomsbury Group. Well ahead of their time, the Omega Workshops brought the experimental language of avant-garde art to domestic design in Edwardian Britain. They were a laboratory of design ideas, creating a range of objects for the home, from rugs and linens to ceramics, furniture and clothing – all boldly coloured with dynamic abstract patterns. No artist was allowed to sign their work, and everything produced by the Workshops bore only the Greek letter Ω (Omega).

That nicely provides the necessary background. I hadn't heard of the Omega Workshop before so I instantly learned something, as well as the fact that it employed conscientious objectors during the First World War. It sounds like a brave endeavour and fully in line with the Bloomsberries ethos.

The exhibition fills two rooms with fabric designs, carpets, furniture, lampstands, dishes and other household goods, all beautifully coloured and designed, some of which I wouldn't mind in my house at all. I also liked the design of the ventilation grilles on the floor, but they weren't part of the exhibition. There was also a small exhibition of the work of Winifred Gill and I particularly liked the small watercolours of jars of flowers. The nice thing about the Courtauld is that you're allowed to take photos so long as you don't use flash, so I did and they're below.

After the exhibition we strolled round the rest of the gallery on two floors, medium sized rooms with paintings and sculptures dotted around, not a huge gallery by any means and that made it feel more comfortable. I got excited a few times when I found important and famous paintings on the walls (not all important paintings are famous, of course). My first flurry of excitement was seeing 'Adam & Eve' by Lucas Cranach, then a van Gogh and a Modigliani facing each other, then a Monet and a group of early Cezannes. It was also nice to find new favourites by artists I've never heard of, such as the 'psychedelic trees' by Maurice de Vlaminck below.

We ended up in the cafe on the lower ground floor, reached by a swirling, curved staircase, and sat outside for some lovely food. I ended with a pot of Earl Grey and an enormous scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam - yum yum. This is the first time I'd been to the Courtauld and I'd certainly go again to stroll amongst the great art and lovely surroundings. And the fountains in the courtyard of Somerset House.