It might be the oldest subject in art history, but it is unfailingly piquant – and as a raunchy new exhibition at a 17th-century farmhouse in Sussex proves, there is still a lot to say, and see, when it comes to sex. “People will be upset about it, but I think that’s fine!” says Darren Clarke, head of collections and research at Charleston Trust, and curator of Very Private?, a new exhibition housed at the former residence of Bloomsbury Group artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. At the centre of the exhibition is a collection of 40 erotic drawings by Grant – selected from more than 400 that have been secretly guarded by the queer community for six decades.
Until now, Grant, who died in 1978 aged 93, has been known for his more conventional Post Impressionist-style portraits, still lifes and landscapes, and for his bohemian lifestyle. The erotic collection will dovetail Grant’s art and life in a way that hasn’t been done before. With their expressive lines and earthy palettes, these drawings bring the viewer closer to Grant’s personal, intimate world and imagination: copulating male couples, trios and groups engaged in all kinds of sex acts. Some of the drawings were based on Grant’s then boyfriend, the writer David Garnett, who lived with Grant and Bell at Charleston for a time – and later married Grant and Bell’s daughter.
“Untitled Drawing” by Duncan Grant, circa 1946 to 1959.
The Charleston Trust © The Estate of Duncan Grant, licensed by DACS 2022,
In 1959, Grant handed a folder containing the explicit drawings to a friend with a handwritten note: “These drawings are very private – please give them to Edward Le Bas, to do what he likes with them.” Over the next 60 years, the folder passed from Le Bas, an artist and collector, along “a wonderful chain of queer men” Clarke says, becoming imbued with a “mythic quality”.
Clarke first encountered them himself a decade ago when they were in the hands of theatre designer, Norman Coates, who had inherited them in 2009. “There were concerns about keeping them private, that this was the sort of thing that shouldn’t be discussed in front of people, that they were trifles and not an important part of Grant’s oeuvre,” Clarke explains of why the works were kept a secret for so long. There was, of course, an element of danger – homosexuality was illegal until 1967, and even after it was decriminalised, such vivid depictions of gay sex could pose an immense threat.
Happily, times have changed, and two years after the drawings arrived back at Charleston, they are finally on display to the public. Very Private? is the first exhibition of Grant’s erotic drawings, and presents them together with the responses of six contemporary artists. “Rather than just present Grant’s view of sex as a white, cis, queer male, we wanted different voices and perspectives in the room, to create a dialogue and enter into this sensual, sexy world.” Through paintings in oil and watercolour, photographs, collage, video and sculpture, Very Private? will take the visitor on a journey that is undeniably titillating, but enlightening too.
Ajamu X’s stunning images celebrate queer bodies.
Ajamu X,
