A print design of two red abstract figures in a garden. One figure holds down a branch while the other bends to catch something from beneath it. The background is a vivid ochre yellow with blue sky or background peeking through the foliage.
Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), Design for a folding screen - Adam and Eve, 1913-1914 © Estate of Vanessa Bell. All rights reserved, DACS 2021. © The Courtauld

Design for a folding screen – Adam and Eve

Vanessa Bell

In 1913, the critic Roger Fry and the artists Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell founded the Omega Workshops, an artists’ and designers’ cooperative that aimed to break down the distinction between the ‘fine’ and ‘decorative’ arts. The boldly abstracted figures and vibrant colours of this design for a folding screen are typical of Omega designs. Omega artists strove to develop a unified group style and did not sign their designs; however, given similarities with her signed work, this design is likely to be by Vanessa Bell.

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Two men sit across from each other at a table covered with a brown tablecloth, playing cards. Both men wear overcoats and hats, and the man on the left smokes a pipe. They sit inside a wooden building. i Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) The Card Players, around 1892-96, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

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