Diary written by acclaimed artist Duncan Grant sells for 17 times its estimate

Independent

25-03-2025

A diary belonging to acclaimed Scottish artist Duncan Grant has sold for 17 times its auction estimate.
The diary, which was recently discovered years after his death in 1978, was started on January 21, 1911 after it was given to him as a gift by his mother.
It sold for £13,750 against an estimate of £500-800, auctioneers at Gorringe's said on Tuesday.
The painter and designer, who was born near Aviemore in the Highlands in 1885, was a central member of the influential Bloomsbury Group of artists and intellectuals.
The diary begins with an entry that reads: ' Mother gave me this book as a present, also a cushion plus a sponge,' and it contains Grant's notes and appointments throughout 1911, providing a 'remarkable insight' into his life and work.
The diary was discovered by Poppy Woodeson, daughter of art historian and biographer John Woodeson, who interviewed Grant during the course of his literary career.
She found it following the recent death of her mother.
'It was a total surprise when I discovered the diary among my parents' effects,' she said.
'I had no idea that this important and fascinating piece of art history was in their possession.'
The previously unseen diary provides an insight into the artist's daily activities in the year he received one of his most important early commissions, having been invited to create murals for the dining room of Borough Polytechnic – now London South Bank University.
It contains Grant's notes and updates on ongoing artworks, such as his 1912 painting titled Dancers, and features a pencil sketch of a standing nude figure.
It also contains details of his lunch and dinner dates with fellow artists and luminaries.
These include artist Vanessa Bell, with whom Grant went on to have an affair, her artist brother Adrian Stephen, and Virginia Woolf, considered one of the most important writers of the Modernist movement.
Other notable entries include Grant's account of witnessing the coronation procession of King George V and Queen Mary in London on June 22, 1911.
A photograph of the novelist EM Forster, which was taken by Ms Bell at Charleston farmhouse in Sussex in 1923, is also contained within the diary.
John Holmes, managing director of Gorringe's auctioneers, said: 'We are absolutely thrilled at the result, the diary received international interest that goes to show just how well placed Gorringe's are for dealing with Bloomsbury Group material.'