VANESSA BELL | ROME FROM THE VILLA MEDICI

The Artist's daughter, Mrs Angelica Garnett

The Mayor Gallery, London

Belgrave Gallery, London, where acquired by the previous owner in 1977

Sale, Christie's London, 2nd March 1978, lot 83

The Mayor Gallery, London, where acquired by the late owner

London, Alex. Reid & Lefevre, Recent Paintings by Vanessa Bell, May 1937, possibly;

London, Belgrave Gallery, Masters of Modern British Painting, 8th - 30th September 1977, cat. no.7, illustrated.

We are grateful to Richard Shone for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work and for preparing the note below.

In 1935 Vanessa Bell spent several weeks in Rome along with Duncan Grant staying in rented rooms at 33 via Margutta, a well-known artists’ quarter near the Villa Medici. They were both working on their commissioned decorations for the Queen Mary liner. But both also painted several outdoor scenes within walking distance and further afield in The Forum. The present work shows the two towers of Trinita dei Monti seen from the gardens of the Villa Medici.