A deathbed portrait of Vanessa Bell by Duncan Grant is rediscovered

Researchers and family members rediscovered a pencil and biro drawing of artist Vanessa Bell, created by her friend and former lover Duncan Grant shortly before or after her death in 1961.

The portrait was found among family papers during preparations for an upcoming exhibition at Tate Britain. The drawing shows Bell from an angle that suggests Grant sat by her bedside.

Darren Clarke, the head of collections and research at Charleston, explains that the drawing features a date of Friday April 14. However, Bell died a week earlier. Clarke says Grant likely added the date from memory years later while sorting through his studio work. The intimacy of the drawing suggests it captures a private moment between the two artists.

The drawing is now part of the Charleston collection in East Sussex, England, as part of a campaign to return 50 major works by the Bloomsbury Group to the farmhouse by 2030. While the portrait will appear in an exhibition catalogue, it will not be part of the main display at Tate Britain. Instead, it will be shown at Charleston in May 2027 when the studio reopens.