Bloomsbury colours: art, gardens and the women who inspired them

The Bloomsbury Group is celebrated for its expressive use of colour, pattern and decoration. But beyond the painted interiors and artistic experimentation, gardens played an equally important role in the lives and creative work of its members.

The Garden Museum’s 2024 exhibition, Gardening Bohemia: Bloomsbury Women Outdoors, explored the gardens of four remarkable women: Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Lady Ottoline Morrell and Vita Sackville-West.

Through paintings, photographs, textiles and personal histories, the exhibition revealed how their gardens became places of artistic inspiration, friendship, experimentation and refuge.

Edward Bulmer Natural Paint was delighted to sponsor the exhibition, providing four colours from our natural paint palette to complement the stories on display: Malahide, Invisible Green, Turquoise and Lavender.

Lady Ottoline Morrell at Garsington: Malahide

Lady Ottoline Morrell transformed the gardens at Garsington Manor in Oxfordshire into a theatrical setting for the artists, writers and thinkers who gathered there.

Inspired in part by Italian gardens, Garsington featured formal planting, statues, yew hedges and peacocks. It became an important meeting place for the Bloomsbury circle and offered refuge to friends during the First World War.

For this part of the exhibition, Malahide provided a rich, earthy orange backdrop.

Its burnt-tangerine tones complemented the exuberance of Ottoline’s garden, reflecting the colour and individuality associated with her gatherings.

In interiors, Malahide can be particularly effective in sitting rooms, dining rooms and smaller spaces, where its red and yellow pigmentation creates an inviting atmosphere. It also pairs beautifully with contrasting blues.

Vanessa Bell at Charleston: Invisible Green

At Charleston farmhouse in Sussex, artist Vanessa Bell and her fellow artist Duncan Grant created one of the most distinctive homes and gardens associated with the Bloomsbury Group.

The garden became an extension of their creative lives, filled with flowers, sculpture and opportunities to experiment with colour and composition.

Its influence can be seen in their paintings and decorative work, while the house itself remains celebrated for its boldly painted furniture, walls and furnishings.

Invisible Green was chosen for the exhibition’s exploration of Charleston.

This deep, richly pigmented green evokes the garden’s abundant planting and the close relationship between the house and its surroundings.

For those drawn to Bloomsbury-inspired interiors, Invisible Green offers a striking way to introduce colour. It works particularly well alongside artwork, patterned textiles and natural wood, creating a connection between indoor spaces and the garden beyond.

Virginia Woolf at Monk’s House: Turquoise

Virginia Woolf and her husband, Leonard, bought Monk’s House in Rodmell, East Sussex, in 1919.

Its garden became an important part of their lives, offering space for writing, reflection and time spent with friends and family.

Woolf’s writing lodge stood within the garden, where she could work surrounded by the landscape that inspired her.

For this section of the exhibition, Turquoise introduced a lively blue-green backdrop.

Its distinctive colour provided a beautiful contrast to the earthy tones found in the paintings and objects on display.

At home, Turquoise makes a confident choice for hallways, studies and other spaces where a stronger colour can bring energy and individuality.

Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst: Lavender

Writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West created one of England’s most celebrated gardens at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent.

Together with her husband, Harold Nicolson, she began transforming the neglected estate in the 1930s, developing a series of distinctive garden rooms enclosed by walls and hedges.

The result combined architectural structure with abundant, romantic planting, an approach that continues to influence garden design today.

Lavender was chosen to accompany Vita’s story in the exhibition.

Its soft purple tones offered a fitting backdrop to the garden’s romantic character and Vita’s bold, individual approach to creating a home.

In interiors, Lavender provides an alternative to traditional pinks and neutrals. It works beautifully in bedrooms and sitting rooms, particularly when paired with deeper reds, antique furniture and natural materials.

Bringing Bloomsbury-inspired colour into the home

The Bloomsbury Group’s approach to decoration was wonderfully individual. Rather than treating colour as something to be used sparingly, its members embraced painted surfaces, pattern, artwork and collected objects as part of everyday life.

The four colours featured in Gardening Bohemia demonstrate just how varied a Bloomsbury-inspired palette can be, from the earthy orange of Malahide and the deep green of Invisible Green to the brighter Turquoise and softer Lavender.

Each offers a different way to introduce colour into the home, whether through a fully painted room, a contrasting piece of furniture or a smaller decorative detail.

Above all, the exhibition was a reminder of the relationship between colour, creativity and the natural world, and how gardens can inspire the spaces we live in.

Explore our natural paint colours and discover how earth and mineral pigments can bring colour to your own home.

Gardening Bohemia: Bloomsbury Women Outdoors was held at the Garden Museum, London, from 15 May to 29 September 2024, with Edward Bulmer Natural Paint as an exhibition sponsor.