Dora Carrington: Beyond Bloomsbury

9 Nov 2024-27 Apr 2025

Overview

Dive into the life and work of Dora Carrington – a remarkable artist who defied social norms with her bohemian lifestyle.

This will be the first museum exhibition of works by Dora Carrington (1893-1932) in almost 30 years. The Barbican Art Gallery held the last major exhibition of her work in 1995 and in the same year Emma Thompson starred as the free-spirited painter in the film Carrington. Co-curated by Anne Chisholm, editor of Carrington’s Letters (2017) and Ariane Bankes, the exhibition will reveal the continued relevance of Carrington’s unconventional life and remarkable work.

As a significant contributor to Modern British art during the interwar years and an associate of the Bloomsbury Group, Carrington was described as ‘the most neglected serious painter of her time’ by former Tate Director, Sir John Rothenstein. This exhibition aims to reposition Carrington in the history of Modern British art. Spanning paintings, drawings and prints from across her career, the exhibition will include film and photographs from private and public collections. It will form a powerful portrait of Carrington, exploring her defiance of gender norms and her circle of eminent friends. Taken together, her artworks, many made for her friends, capture a Bohemian way of life: loving, creative, domestic and intimate.

Artists