Born: 30 May 1879, United Kingdom
Died: 7 April 1961
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: NA
Vanessa Bell was an English painter and interior designer, and the sister of Virginia Woolf. Exhibiting in London and Paris, she was one of the most celebrated painters of the Bloomsbury Group of English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists. Bell rejected the restrictions of Victorian narrative painting and the focus on what were considered ideal and aberrant qualities of femininity. She also designed book jackets for all of her sister Virginia’s books that were published by Virginia’s publishing company, the Hogarth Press. In 1932, Bell and Duncan Grant were commissioned to produce a dinner service for art historian Kenneth Clark. Overseen by Kenneth’s wife Jane Clark, they created the Famous Women Dinner Service – 50 plates painted with portraits of notable women throughout history.