The Dulwich Picture Gallery will be presenting a major exhibition of the work of Vanessa Bell in 2017 it has been confirmed. 

Opening on the 8th February 2017, the exhibition will feature approximately 100 paintings ceramics, fabrics and photographs that will explore the variety of themes that she examined in her work.

The exhibition will be arranged thematically, showcasing the artist’s bold experimentation with abstraction, colour and form, but at the same time looking at the world from her unique perspective.

Co-Curator Sarah Milroy said: “I am honoured to work on this exhibition of an artist who has been so unaccountably overlooked. Unconventional in her approach to both art and life, Bell’s art embodies many of the progressive ideas that we still are grappling with today, expressing new ideas about gender roles, sexuality, personal freedom, social and class mores and the open embrace of non-British cultures.”

This is a new opportunity to view the artist’s work afresh, which for so long has been overshadowed by her sister Virginia Woolf’s work and her romantic entanglements.

The Dulwich Picture Gallery’s display will chart Vanessa Bell’s move from the Impressionism of her early training to the more radical style which was influenced by her trips to Paris and post-Impressionist exhibitions that were held in London in 1910 and 1912.

Much of the focus of the display will be on Bell’s most distinctive period of experimentation in the 1910’s, revealing an artist that puts her as a pivotal player in 20th century British art.

Vanessa Bell’s work will be on display at the Dulwich Picture Gallery from the 8th February 2017 until the 4th June 2017. For more information and to book tickets visit: http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/2017/february/vanessa-bell-(1879-1961)/.