Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 160 pages
• Published by: Frances Lincoln July 10, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 071122370X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0711223707
• Book Dimensions: 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 1.8 pounds

Product Review
Over the last half of the 20th century, in Europe at least, fascination in interior design reached an unprecedented level, reviving cultures from Morocco to Sweden. Strange then, that despite the Bauhaus school spawning one of the most influential movements in design history, such scant attention has been paid to Germany. Here, at long last, is a book not only to redress the balance, but one that tackles the question of precisely what is meant by German style. The answer is far from glib. There is yet to exist a society in which fashion and taste are not victims of political turbulence and in Germany, a country for much of its history characterized by fragmentation, identifying a uniquely national decorative tradition is especially problematic. Every race of people, moreover, has its own little idiosyncracies, nowhere more so than the mundane. Accordingly, the essayist, Montaigne, claimed Germans went into a decline if obliged to sleep on a mattress. (feather beds did equally for an Italian apparently, and lack of curtains the French). Montaigne believed in anecdote - German pubs have no napkins, he complained. But from Goethe's cringe over carpets to Schiller's passion for pink, in her intensely readable quest for truly Teutonic, Sangl believes in anecdote too. Sangl's is a highly authoritative approach. Lavishly illustrated with outstanding photography, it would be a travesty to relegate this meticulous and valuable work to the coffee table. Rather it looks set to herald another revival: serious interest in German style. And about time too. (Kirkus UK) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Set in the heart of the Sussex downs, in England, Charleston Farmhouse is the most important remaining example of Bloomsbury decorative style, created by the painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. The house and garden are protrayed through Alen McWeeney's atmospheric photographs along with pictures from the Bell family album.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden (Hardcover) i stumbled across this book on a beautiful indian summer sunday afternoon....it is a treasure for those unable to physically saunter through the rooms and out to the walled garden that is charleston. all photos in colour, all rooms as they were when vanessa bell, duncan grant, family and friends lived and worked there. inspirational.