Portrait of a Movement: A New Approach to the Bloomsbury Group

A person sits on a wooden deck chair in a garden setting, sewing or embroidering a yellow-green fabric. They are wearing a blue outfit with an orange shawl. The scene includes a brick floor and lush greenery in the background.

June 7, 2025 - May 10, 2026

“On or about December 1910, human character changed.” Here, Virginia Woolf, with characteristic humor, refers to the pivotal moment when artist and critic Roger Fry staggered London with his two Post-Impressionist exhibitions, marking the international development of modernism. Painters, novelists, and critics associated with Fry pioneered a distinctive visual style and a shift in cultural and societal attitudes; they were known as the Bloomsbury Group.

At its core, Bloomsbury was a conversation—an artistic and intellectual dialogue that blurred the boundaries between painting and literature, criticism and creation. The Rollins Museum of Art holds an extensive collection of works by members of this collective, including Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, and Walter Richard Sickert. Portrait of a Movement: A New Approach to the Bloomsbury Group celebrates the debut of Fry’s Summer in the Garden (1911), a significant portrait of Vanessa Bell recently acquired by the museum and displayed in the United States for the first time.

Amid renewed interest in the Bloomsbury Group’s artistic production, this exhibition builds on recent scholarship and ongoing revivals to offer a more nuanced interpretation of their work and activities. Resisting narrow biographical interpretations, it instead foregrounds the exchange of ideas, illuminating the group's dynamic dialogue with European modernism, gender, domesticity, and one another.

Be sure to visit this exhibition in our Summer and Fall 2025 as well as Winter 2026 seasons as works on view will rotate between seasons.

Image: Roger Fry (British, 1866-1934) Summer in the Garden, 1911, Oil on panel, 19 x 23 1/8 in., Museum purchase from the Kenneth Curry Acquisition Fund. 2024.50. ©Roger Fry

Related Events

left, a book cover Vanessa Bell The Life & Art of Bloomsbury Radical. Right, Black and white image of asmiling woman wearing glasses.

Vanessa Bell: The Life and Art of a Bloomsbury Radical

with Author Wendy Hitchmough

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 | 6pm | Free

Attend in-person or register to attend virtually

Corresponding with the exhibition Portrait of a Movement: A New Approach to the Bloomsbury Group, Rollins Museum of Art welcomes Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Scholar Dr. Wendy Hitchmough, emeritus senior lecturer at the University of Sussex and author of Vanessa Bell: The Life and Art of a Bloomsbury Radical (2025). Hitchmough presents new scholarship on works in the RMA collection by artists Vanessa Bell, her sister Virginia Woolf and Roger Fry, centering Bell as a key figure in the development of modernism. This lecture will be followed by a Q&A with the author.

Learn More

woman points to painting while crowd looks on

Exhibition Tour

June 27 & November 14, 2025 | 11am

Join Moriah Russo, Curatorial Assistant for a guided tour of Portrait of a Movement. No reservation necessary. Admission is FREE!

Woman takes a picture of a painting on the wall standing next to another woman

Exhibition Previews

June 6 & September 12, 2025 | 5:30-7pm

Museum Members are invited to explore a season preview of exhibitions. RSVP to dmack@rolliins.edu

Woman points to artwork while crowd looks on

Arte y Café con la Curadora

8 de julio | July 8 | 6pm

Acompaña a la Dra. Gisela Carbonell, Curadora, para recorridos guiados en español. / Join Curator Dr. Gisela Carbonell for exhibition tours in Spanish.

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Media and Supplemental Materials

Summer in the Garden

by Wendy Hitchmough
Read this article from Yale University Press about the Bloomsbury Group.
Modernism in Intimate Gestures: The Bloomsbury Group at Rollins Museum of Art

Dive deeper into Portrait of Movement: A New Approach to the Bloomsbury Group exhibition at Rollins Museum of Art in this Orlando Weekly article by Moriah Russo, Curatorial Assistant.
Dr. Wendy Hitchmough to Give Exclusive Lecture at Rollins Museum of Art on Vanessa Bell: The Life and Art of a Bloomsbury Radical and her Sister Virginia Woolf

Learn more about Wendy Hitchmough and her lecture about Bloomsbury Group radicals Vanessa Bell, her sister Virginia Woolf, Roger Fry among others featured in Portrait of Movement: A New Approach to the Bloomsbury Group at Rollins Museum of Art.

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Audio Guides

Listen to audio guides of museum highlights, art at The Alfond Inn, our Outdoor Sculpture Tour, and more on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.
360 Degree Virtual Exhibition Views

Take a virtual tour of past exhibitions!
Current Season at Rollins Museum of Art

Explore the Rollins Museum of Art Current Season including intriguing exhibitions, thought-provoking lectures (in person AND virtually), family events, tours in English and Spanish, Art at The Alfond Inn, and more!
Arte y Café Con La Curadora

Acompaña a la Dra. Gisela Carbonell, Directora Interina y Curadora, para recorridos guiados en español. Café y pastelillitos provistos por nuestro auspiciador Café Don Juan.
Join Interim Director and Curator Dr. Gisela Carbonell for exhibition tours in Spanish. Coffee and pastries provided by our program sponsor, Café Don Juan.
Saturday Museum Highlights Tour at 1pm

Enjoy a tour of select works in current exhibitions at the Rollins Museum of art on Saturdays at 1pm unless otherwise noted on our Events Page. Tours last approximately 45 minutes. No registration required. Admission is free.