A challenge for anyone confronting the art of the Bloomsbury Group is the way the magnetic chaos of their interpersonal drama can overpower the art. At Pallant House, the curators strike a tenuous balance between the two. Though Dora Carrington, who preferred to be known simply as Carrington, wasn’t part of Bloomsbury’s inner circle, she enthusiastically lived their ethos.
Bisexual and fond of nudity, she was infatuated with Lytton Strachey, who was gay. She lived in a menage a trois with Strachey and Ralph Partridge, and all three had regular affairs with people of various genders. She was an enchanting person, by all accounts – the sort of captivating personality it is impossible to forget. Although her life echoed the imbalanced love triangles of Vanessa Bell, Carrington was less able to flourish: her art was never appreciated and barely exhibited in her lifetime, and she had far less agency in her relationships.
