25 Facts About Duncan Grant

Duncan James Corrowr Grant was a Scottish painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets, and costumes.

Duncan Grant's father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major in the army, and much of his early childhood was spent in India and Burma.

Duncan Grant was a grandson of Sir John Peter Grant, 12th Laird of Rothiemurchus, KCB, GCMG, and sometime Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal.

When Duncan Grant was younger, he accompanied Lady Strachey to "picture Sunday" which gave him the opportunity to meet with eminent painters.

In 1902, Duncan Grant was enrolled by his aunt at Westminster School of Art; he attended for the next three years.

Duncan Grant made a study of the Portrait of Federigo da Montefeltro, one half of the diptych by Piero della Francesca in the Uffizi and was greatly impressed by the frescoes of Piero in the Basilica of San Francesco, Arezzo.

On his return, at the advice of Simon Bussy, Duncan Grant made a copy of the Angel musicians in Piero's Nativity in the National Gallery, London.

Duncan Grant was introduced to Vanessa Bell by Pippa Strachey at the Friday Club in the autumn of 1905.

In January 1907, and again in the summer of 1908, Duncan Grant spent a term at the Slade School of Art.

In 1908, Duncan Grant painted a portrait of John Maynard Keynes, whom he had met the previous year, while the two were on holiday in Orkney.

In 1909, Duncan Grant visited Michael and Gertrude Stein in Paris and saw their collection that included paintings by, among others, Picasso and Matisse.

In November 1909, Duncan Grant moved to 21 Fitzroy Square, where he occupied two rooms on the second floor of the building on the west side of the square.

The maid told Virginia "that Mr Duncan Grant gets in everywhere".

In June 1910 Duncan Grant exhibited with the Friday Club at the Alpine Club Gallery.

Duncan Grant composed two oil paintings to fit with the theme of illustrating London on Holiday.

Duncan Grant drew on his exposure to the work of the post-impressionists; The Times reported of his depiction of the figures that 'Mr Duncan Grant has used all his remarkable powers of draughtsmanship to represent the act of swimming rather than any individual swimmers.

Duncan Grant is best known for his painting style, which developed in the wake of French post-impressionist exhibitions mounted in London in 1910.

Duncan Grant often worked with, and was influenced by, another member of the group, art critic and artist Roger Fry.

In 1916, in support of his application for recognition as a conscientious objector, Duncan Grant joined his new lover, David Garnett, in setting up as fruit farmers in Suffolk.

In 1935, Duncan Grant was selected along with nearly 30 other prominent British artists of the day to provide works of art for the RMS Queen Mary then being built in Scotland.

Duncan Grant was commissioned to provide paintings and fabrics for the first class Main Lounge.

Duncan Grant is quoted in the book The Mary: The Inevitable Ship, by Potter and Frost, as saying:.

Duncan Grant modelled the figure of Christ in these murals on his lover Paul Roche.

Duncan Grant would eventually live with Vanessa Bell who, though she was a married woman, fell deeply in love with him and, one night, succeeded in seducing him; Bell very much wanted a child by Grant, and she became pregnant in the spring of 1918.

Duncan Grant's remains are buried beside Vanessa Bell's in the churchyard of St Peter's Church, West Firle, East Sussex.