Selected Letters of Clive Bell - by Mark Hussey

About the Book

A selection of letters by the pacifist and noted art critic Clive Bell, expertly annotated by his biographer

Book Synopsis

Clive Bell was a pivotal member of the Bloomsbury Group. His marriage to Vanessa Bell and his, at times tempestuous, relations with his sister-in-law Virginia Woolf form important strands in the cultural history of modernism. A tireless champion of modernist art, a committed pacifist and conscientious objector, Bell produced a huge body of correspondence with many of the leading artistic and political figures of his time. His lively, witty, highly opinionated letters are a window into the turbulence of the early twentieth century, populated by friends and acquaintances including T. S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau, as well as his Bloomsbury set, Desmond MacCarthy, Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Duncan Grant, Maynard Keynes, Roger Fry and Vanessa Bell. Arranged in eight categories - Bloomsbury Circles; Virginia; War; Arts and Letters; To the Editor; Francophile; Travels; Love, Gossip, Home - this selection emphasises Bell's enormously varied life and interests. Born in the reign of Queen Victoria and living long enough to have been able to hear the Beatles on the radio, these letters demonstrate that Bell's appetite for art, for love and for peace never flagged.

From the Back Cover

A selection of letters by the pacifist and noted art critic Clive Bell, expertly annotated by his biographer Clive Bell was a pivotal member of the Bloomsbury Group. His marriage to Vanessa Bell and his, at times tempestuous, relations with his sister-in-law Virginia Woolf form important strands in the cultural history of modernism. A tireless champion of modernist art, a committed pacifist and conscientious objector, Bell produced a huge body of correspondence with many of the leading artistic and political figures of his time. His lively, witty, highly opinionated letters are a window into the turbulence of the early twentieth century, populated by friends and acquaintances including T. S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau, as well as his Bloomsbury set, Desmond MacCarthy, Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Duncan Grant, Maynard Keynes, Roger Fry and Vanessa Bell. Arranged in eight categories - Bloomsbury Circles; Virginia; War; Arts and Letters; To the Editor; Francophile; Travels; Love, Gossip, Home - this selection emphasises Bell's enormously varied life and interests. Bell was born in the reign of Queen Victoria and lived long enough to have been able to hear the Beatles on the radio. His letters demonstrate an appetite for art, for love and for peace that never flagged. [bio]Mark Hussey is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Pace University in New York. His most recent book is Clive Bell and the Making of Modernism, A Biography (2021). He is also the General Editor of the Harcourt annotated edition of Virginia Woolf. www.markhusseybooks.com

Review Quotes

Considering the success of Mark Hussey's biography of Clive Bell, it's no surprise that his edition of Bell's letters is so perceptive and well-chosen. The letters show Bell at his best, whether debating his art theories or his pacifism or describing a picnic. Generous with friends, feisty with Philistines, he practiced a lost art of letter-writing as a gift and a performance: a "significant form" in itself.

--Regina Marler, editor of Selected Letters of Vanessa Bell

This is a remarkable edition of Clive Bell's letters, expertly introduced and annotated by his biographer, Mark Hussey. From Bell's central position in the Bloomsbury Group, these witty and moving letters illuminate transnational networks of intimacy and artistic debate. This volume is essential and engaging reading for anyone interested in modernism and the arts.

--Anna Snaith, King's College London

Whether earnest, funny, critical or reflective, these letters reveal the multifaceted traits of Clive Bell. This selection should justifiably rekindle interest in his thought and writing. Mark Hussey has produced a magnificent edition, innovative in its meticulous arrangement, and one which can be enjoyed by general readers and academics alike.--Matthew Macer-Wright "Virginia Woolf Bulletin"

About the Author

Mark Hussey is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Pace University in New York. Clive Bell and the Making of Modernism, A Biography (Bloomsbury 2021) is his most recent book. He has published widely on Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury and is a member of the editorial boards of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf Miscellany, and Woolf Studies Annual, as well as being General Editor of the Harcourt annotated Woolf. www.markhusseybooks.com