Quentin Bell Exhibition

An exhibition at Charleston tracing Quentin Bell's artistic career across ceramics, sculpture, illustration and works on paper.

This exhibition at Charleston in Firle celebrates Quentin Bell (1910-1996), son of Vanessa Bell and Clive Bell, as an artist in his own right rather than solely as Virginia Woolf's biographer. Bringing together over 100 works, it traces his practice from childhood invention at Charleston — where he dug clay from the pond and illustrated a family newspaper — to his mature work as a potter, sculptor and illustrator. Ceramic figures, illustrated novels, 'Goggle Boxes', plates and sculptural works are displayed in the galleries, with large sculptures including 'Levitating Figure', 'Pomona' and 'The Spink' sited across the house and garden. It is the first exhibition dedicated to Bell in almost thirty years, opening on 19 September 2026 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of his death.