Among the many illuminating artifacts you’ve gathered in this moving essay, I’m most struck by the irony of Vanessa Bell securing a sketch from Picasso that would reflect her own grief just a month after the auction. When I look at Guernica (the painting) now, I’ll see Vanessa in the wailing mother of the far left vignette.
Thank you Tara for such a great comment. That coincidence struck me as very poignant too. For all the privilege and freedom that Vanessa and her Bloomsbury circle had, the pain of grief was the same. I love Frances Spalding's writing on this.
As always, you write with both grace & accessibility—a rare combination! I was very touched by the warmth of the bond shared by Virginia & Julian, as I was not aware of their depth of connection. Virginia’s quest for catharsis through the creation of Julian’s tribute seems to have functioned equally as pursuit of a liberating atonement that seemed to elude her tragically in any full sense throughout her haunted life.
Atonement is such a brilliant word for what Woolf was attempting to do through her memoir of Julian - and It's significant, I think, that she didn't attempt to polish it or turn it into a published essay. That might have been to take away some of its spontaneous warmth, and turn it into an artefact. But clearly she could not get over the haunting regret she felt about not doing more.
Beautifully interspersed with crucial passages, this essay evokes the air de famille, and what a family that was. Nessa's spirit is everywhere, the glue that held those very different characters together. I very much enjoyed reading it...
You have put that so well Maria - the 'air de famille' that permeates all their stories. Yes, Nessa was a touchstone for everyone in her circle, wasn't she. Thanks so much for your comment.
Another excellent article, Ann. You have an amazing gift for bringing us into the world of great writers and showing us their intimate lives, their bonds and enmities, losses and joys. I knew almost nothing about Julian Bell before reading this, other than that he was Virginia’s nephew, Vanessa’s son and - oh yes, a poet. So much richness here. Thank you.
Many thanks Mary for your lovely comment. I was glad Literature Cambridge asked me to speak on VW and childhood, and I got interested in how she interacted with children close to her. There's a wonderful essay by Ben Nicolson, one of Vita Sackville-West's son, when he describes how Virginia was so curious about the detail of their lives as children and really did ask them (rather obsessively) what they had for breakfast.
That’s such a great detail. When I was a kid, grownups would ask me what grade I was in, comment on how much I’d grown, and nothing else. That I’d eaten cold cereal for breakfast was a given. But whether I preferred Frosted Flakes to Sugar Pops was of no interest to them. I wonder if Virginia’s question was a quirky default of some sort, or if it had anything to do with food issues during her own childhood, or if this is just another example of seeking meaning where it doesn’t exist? Now, if she’d said, “Did you see Jesus in your toast this morning?” it would be another matter.
I’m trying to picture handsome youngJulian laughing so exuberantly, he broke chairs. What a face, what a story, what a bond between Virginia, her sister and her nephew. The photo of Virginia’s bedroom is a poignant beauty. You almost expect her to walk in and put on the hat. And the familiar portrait of Julian has acquired a new resonance.
Personal aside: S.P. Rosenbaum taught me, an undergraduate, at the University of Toronto. He gave me an A but I will never forget his withering response to a hasty and callow comment I made in class.
Oh my goodness Rona, I am amazed you knew Rosenbaum! Isn't it telling, though, that his insensitive response stayed in your memory. I am hoping that nowadays students are more able to get advice about how to deal with this, and academics are getting better trained (like doctors). Such arrogance can be incredibly hurtful and damaging, as I know from personal experience. Thank you, too, for your generous words and I love that photo too - it's actually Vanessa's bedroom and a kind friend sent me that photo last week, when she was visiting there.
Funnily enough, I thought at the time his response was justified, although it was terribly embarrassing. I also took a course with Northrop Frye, who responded with the utmost respect to every comment and question, including those I disdained as a waste of time. His course was on the Bible as literature. The real subject was Life.
Lovely to hear that about Northrop Frye and I do hope you write more about his teaching. I honestly think some academics are a bit clueless in matters of teaching - otherwise nice, decent people seem to think 'well, it didn't do me any harm' when it comes to intellectual rigour. But some students are harmed by it nonetheless.
Thank you Jill! I structured in around the idea of Woolf not being a mother herself, but having quasi-maternal feelings for her sister's oldest, which perhaps she allowed herself to express more fully following his death. I especially liked the fact that they made each other laugh!
As a childless auntie myself with a brilliant niece and nephew now pursuing graduate studies, I guess I could relate. And a lesson for me to cultivate instead of criticize their emerging talents.
Fascinating, Ann. Thanks for including the link to Virginia Woolf’s memoir of Julian. Interesting to read the essay within the essay and the comparisons she makes with her late brother.
Yes, I think Quentin was possibly annoyed by Virginia extolling her dead brother Thoby's genius over Julian's! It was a bit of an argument with Clive too, who married Vanessa a few months after Thoby's death, and I think Virginia felt some antipathy towards him (and baby Julian who came along soon afterwards) for that. Interesting that she focusses on the Bells' lack of beauty!
Yes! I was struck by that comment in VW's memoir about Julian's vs Thoby. "I think I mean that he was practical & caustic & shrewd; & then his extraordinary capacity for sex adventures, his readiness to go to bed with very ugly & rather commonplace young women was very unlike Thoby. He had much higher spirits. He was much more adapted to life. He was much less regularly beautiful to look at." A rather back-handed compliment!
Absolutely - Virginia and Vanessa had a weirdly judgmental approach to women’s looks and especially their weight. I guess it was their upbringing - but also that Bloomsbury snobbery rearing its ugly (if you’ll forgive the pun) head.
This essay wonderfully shows Virginia Woolf's warmth towards her family, particularly towards Julian and sister, Vanessa and more generally towards all women. The overvaluing of men and consequent extreme undervaluing of women in marriage and relationships and everything else can often lead to lesser or greater misery on the part of both and within the entire societal infrastructure. This is one of Virginia Woolf's greatest themes that runs through much of her work. She seems hugely sensitive to the faintest slight, criticism or belittlement a man might unfairly extend towards a woman. This essay brilliantly details the warmth she had for the good and admirable qualities of honest men that she obviously saw in her nephew, Julian. Virginia Woolf has always been heavily criticized for being cold, unfeeling and intellectually remote. Your essay rights many of the wrongs on that score. Excellent.
Thanks for your kind words and wonderful insights Larry, and I agree with you that Julian seemed to bring out the warmer, less self-conscious side of Woolf and that is lovely to see.
Excellent essay, as usual, Ann. I came across more details about Julian Bell while randomly searching for an article on El País (Spanish newspaper) in order to work on vocabulary with my language pupils some time ago. Said article was about the fact that combatants like Bell are buried in a grave that could be where the Madrid City Council plans a rubbish dump, so I decided to do my own precarious research on this most charismatic Woolf's nephew... Needless to say, your essay filled in so many gaps. His trip to China, (where he apparently had a secret but passionate love affair with Lin Shuhua), his warm, close relationship with Virginia, Vanessa's reaction to his death.... Thank you!
Many thanks, Christina. The story of his time in China is fascinating too, isn't it? And Bell's involvement with Lin Shuhua, who later became a correspondent of Virginia Woolf's. I'm glad you've heard about the fight to honour the graves of Julian Bell and other volunteers - I've now added this to the bibliography:
Fascinating as always. I think it's interesting that Maynard Keynes shared some of Julian's unease about Woolf's arguments in Three Guineas, but was also uncomfortably aware about the attraction of young men to war and violence, something he had witnessed during the 1914-18 War in close contemporaries like Rupert Brook and Ferenc Békássy. Bloomsbury pacifism was never straightforward.
So interesting— and a new angle on the much-discussed Bloomsbury set. There was so much tragedy in the Stephen family alongside the enormous achievements and creative gifts. Vanessa’s cry is heartbreaking.
And then Virginia’s “generational envy” (I have to go back and check the exact words—) when it must have been both a great privilege and a great pressure to be a member of that family (as Quentin implied with the toadstool/forest comment). Thanks for this rich offering, Ann!
It's so poignant, isn't it Sarah. Such a terrible time, and despite all of Leonard's and Vanessa's care, Virginia didn't get the medical help she needed, perhaps. But I was glad to discover through researching this of how much she enjoyed laughing and good conversation with young people.
Yes, and I’d like to read more! Also, when you consider the amount of trauma Virginia endured in her youth, it’s kind of amazing that she lived such a productive life.
This was a lovely deep dive into your words, through the usual dross that email seems to have become and into the lively, quickened world of Virginia Woolf, Julian and Vanessa Bell, family and milieu.
Thank you Victoria! And reading your own Substack has given me so many insights (and awareness of how to tell a good biographical story in brief - I will keep trying!).
Among the many illuminating artifacts you’ve gathered in this moving essay, I’m most struck by the irony of Vanessa Bell securing a sketch from Picasso that would reflect her own grief just a month after the auction. When I look at Guernica (the painting) now, I’ll see Vanessa in the wailing mother of the far left vignette.
Thank you Tara for such a great comment. That coincidence struck me as very poignant too. For all the privilege and freedom that Vanessa and her Bloomsbury circle had, the pain of grief was the same. I love Frances Spalding's writing on this.
As always, you write with both grace & accessibility—a rare combination! I was very touched by the warmth of the bond shared by Virginia & Julian, as I was not aware of their depth of connection. Virginia’s quest for catharsis through the creation of Julian’s tribute seems to have functioned equally as pursuit of a liberating atonement that seemed to elude her tragically in any full sense throughout her haunted life.
Atonement is such a brilliant word for what Woolf was attempting to do through her memoir of Julian - and It's significant, I think, that she didn't attempt to polish it or turn it into a published essay. That might have been to take away some of its spontaneous warmth, and turn it into an artefact. But clearly she could not get over the haunting regret she felt about not doing more.
Beautifully interspersed with crucial passages, this essay evokes the air de famille, and what a family that was. Nessa's spirit is everywhere, the glue that held those very different characters together. I very much enjoyed reading it...
You have put that so well Maria - the 'air de famille' that permeates all their stories. Yes, Nessa was a touchstone for everyone in her circle, wasn't she. Thanks so much for your comment.
Another excellent article, Ann. You have an amazing gift for bringing us into the world of great writers and showing us their intimate lives, their bonds and enmities, losses and joys. I knew almost nothing about Julian Bell before reading this, other than that he was Virginia’s nephew, Vanessa’s son and - oh yes, a poet. So much richness here. Thank you.
Many thanks Mary for your lovely comment. I was glad Literature Cambridge asked me to speak on VW and childhood, and I got interested in how she interacted with children close to her. There's a wonderful essay by Ben Nicolson, one of Vita Sackville-West's son, when he describes how Virginia was so curious about the detail of their lives as children and really did ask them (rather obsessively) what they had for breakfast.
That’s such a great detail. When I was a kid, grownups would ask me what grade I was in, comment on how much I’d grown, and nothing else. That I’d eaten cold cereal for breakfast was a given. But whether I preferred Frosted Flakes to Sugar Pops was of no interest to them. I wonder if Virginia’s question was a quirky default of some sort, or if it had anything to do with food issues during her own childhood, or if this is just another example of seeking meaning where it doesn’t exist? Now, if she’d said, “Did you see Jesus in your toast this morning?” it would be another matter.
I’m trying to picture handsome youngJulian laughing so exuberantly, he broke chairs. What a face, what a story, what a bond between Virginia, her sister and her nephew. The photo of Virginia’s bedroom is a poignant beauty. You almost expect her to walk in and put on the hat. And the familiar portrait of Julian has acquired a new resonance.
Personal aside: S.P. Rosenbaum taught me, an undergraduate, at the University of Toronto. He gave me an A but I will never forget his withering response to a hasty and callow comment I made in class.
Oh my goodness Rona, I am amazed you knew Rosenbaum! Isn't it telling, though, that his insensitive response stayed in your memory. I am hoping that nowadays students are more able to get advice about how to deal with this, and academics are getting better trained (like doctors). Such arrogance can be incredibly hurtful and damaging, as I know from personal experience. Thank you, too, for your generous words and I love that photo too - it's actually Vanessa's bedroom and a kind friend sent me that photo last week, when she was visiting there.
Funnily enough, I thought at the time his response was justified, although it was terribly embarrassing. I also took a course with Northrop Frye, who responded with the utmost respect to every comment and question, including those I disdained as a waste of time. His course was on the Bible as literature. The real subject was Life.
Lovely to hear that about Northrop Frye and I do hope you write more about his teaching. I honestly think some academics are a bit clueless in matters of teaching - otherwise nice, decent people seem to think 'well, it didn't do me any harm' when it comes to intellectual rigour. But some students are harmed by it nonetheless.
So much here I did not know and it touched me deeply to learn about this relationship. A new vantage point to reflect on Woolf's writing.
Thank you Jill! I structured in around the idea of Woolf not being a mother herself, but having quasi-maternal feelings for her sister's oldest, which perhaps she allowed herself to express more fully following his death. I especially liked the fact that they made each other laugh!
As a childless auntie myself with a brilliant niece and nephew now pursuing graduate studies, I guess I could relate. And a lesson for me to cultivate instead of criticize their emerging talents.
Yes and I am sure you do, Jill! Virginia was probably a bit daunting.
Intimidating is a word others have used to describe me, and perhaps strident is another adjective I might share with Virginia Woolf.
Ha, well sometimes words like that are used to shut women down, I guess - keep being strident, Jill, and making your voice heard.
Yeah, I translate those words to persistent and dedicated. On that I double down.
Fascinating, Ann. Thanks for including the link to Virginia Woolf’s memoir of Julian. Interesting to read the essay within the essay and the comparisons she makes with her late brother.
Yes, I think Quentin was possibly annoyed by Virginia extolling her dead brother Thoby's genius over Julian's! It was a bit of an argument with Clive too, who married Vanessa a few months after Thoby's death, and I think Virginia felt some antipathy towards him (and baby Julian who came along soon afterwards) for that. Interesting that she focusses on the Bells' lack of beauty!
Yes! I was struck by that comment in VW's memoir about Julian's vs Thoby. "I think I mean that he was practical & caustic & shrewd; & then his extraordinary capacity for sex adventures, his readiness to go to bed with very ugly & rather commonplace young women was very unlike Thoby. He had much higher spirits. He was much more adapted to life. He was much less regularly beautiful to look at." A rather back-handed compliment!
Absolutely - Virginia and Vanessa had a weirdly judgmental approach to women’s looks and especially their weight. I guess it was their upbringing - but also that Bloomsbury snobbery rearing its ugly (if you’ll forgive the pun) head.
This essay wonderfully shows Virginia Woolf's warmth towards her family, particularly towards Julian and sister, Vanessa and more generally towards all women. The overvaluing of men and consequent extreme undervaluing of women in marriage and relationships and everything else can often lead to lesser or greater misery on the part of both and within the entire societal infrastructure. This is one of Virginia Woolf's greatest themes that runs through much of her work. She seems hugely sensitive to the faintest slight, criticism or belittlement a man might unfairly extend towards a woman. This essay brilliantly details the warmth she had for the good and admirable qualities of honest men that she obviously saw in her nephew, Julian. Virginia Woolf has always been heavily criticized for being cold, unfeeling and intellectually remote. Your essay rights many of the wrongs on that score. Excellent.
Thanks for your kind words and wonderful insights Larry, and I agree with you that Julian seemed to bring out the warmer, less self-conscious side of Woolf and that is lovely to see.
Excellent essay, as usual, Ann. I came across more details about Julian Bell while randomly searching for an article on El País (Spanish newspaper) in order to work on vocabulary with my language pupils some time ago. Said article was about the fact that combatants like Bell are buried in a grave that could be where the Madrid City Council plans a rubbish dump, so I decided to do my own precarious research on this most charismatic Woolf's nephew... Needless to say, your essay filled in so many gaps. His trip to China, (where he apparently had a secret but passionate love affair with Lin Shuhua), his warm, close relationship with Virginia, Vanessa's reaction to his death.... Thank you!
Many thanks, Christina. The story of his time in China is fascinating too, isn't it? And Bell's involvement with Lin Shuhua, who later became a correspondent of Virginia Woolf's. I'm glad you've heard about the fight to honour the graves of Julian Bell and other volunteers - I've now added this to the bibliography:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/27/respect-and-honour-the-fight-to-save-a-spanish-civil-war-mass-grave
Fascinating as always. I think it's interesting that Maynard Keynes shared some of Julian's unease about Woolf's arguments in Three Guineas, but was also uncomfortably aware about the attraction of young men to war and violence, something he had witnessed during the 1914-18 War in close contemporaries like Rupert Brook and Ferenc Békássy. Bloomsbury pacifism was never straightforward.
So interesting— and a new angle on the much-discussed Bloomsbury set. There was so much tragedy in the Stephen family alongside the enormous achievements and creative gifts. Vanessa’s cry is heartbreaking.
And then Virginia’s “generational envy” (I have to go back and check the exact words—) when it must have been both a great privilege and a great pressure to be a member of that family (as Quentin implied with the toadstool/forest comment). Thanks for this rich offering, Ann!
Thisbwas such a fascinating read and an interesting side to Virginia Woolf's own story.
Thank you, Nancy! Her fondness for Julian (and his for her) shows another side to her character.
Wonderful essay, Ann! I have often wondered how Julian’s death, followed soon after by the war, played into Virginia’s last breakdown.
It's so poignant, isn't it Sarah. Such a terrible time, and despite all of Leonard's and Vanessa's care, Virginia didn't get the medical help she needed, perhaps. But I was glad to discover through researching this of how much she enjoyed laughing and good conversation with young people.
Yes, and I’d like to read more! Also, when you consider the amount of trauma Virginia endured in her youth, it’s kind of amazing that she lived such a productive life.
Thank you so much for sharing Virginia’s essay on Julian.
Thanks Amanda - and for your generous comments via Notes about Julian's political involvement in China.
This was a lovely deep dive into your words, through the usual dross that email seems to have become and into the lively, quickened world of Virginia Woolf, Julian and Vanessa Bell, family and milieu.
Many thanks Diana, so glad you enjoyed it - what a lovely description of a 'lively, quickened world'. Exactly so.
Thank you so much for the mention, Ann. I’m really looking forward to reading this with a cup of tea later today.
Thank you Victoria! And reading your own Substack has given me so many insights (and awareness of how to tell a good biographical story in brief - I will keep trying!).
That’s very kind of you to say, Ann. But I aspire to write as beautifully as you. Such a wonderful portrait. Thank you for your work!