The Annual Fund
The Annual Fund gives Charleston’s Friends and supporters the chance to help us in our task to conserve and protect the house and collection. We had an extremely generous response to last year’s Annual Fund and this has enabled us to carry out important repairs to the exterior of the house to safeguard the collection from the elements. This year, for the first time, we asked the Friends of Charleston to decide which project they would like the 2010 Annual Fund to support and they chose the restoration and reframing of Sickert’s ‘The Flower Girl’.
The 2010 Annual Fund: Restoring and Reframing ‘The Flower Girl’
This year we are asking you to help with restoring and reframing ‘The Flower Girl’, which was painted by Walter Sickert, one of the most influential British artists of the 20 th Century, in 1908-09. From 1926, it belonged to Clive Bell, and accompanied him when he moved to Charleston in 1939, where it was hung in the Spare Bedroom opposite Duncan Grant’s portrait of Lytton Strachey. Sickert’s work was much admired by Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and, from 1920, Grant leased Sickert’s former studio at 8 Fitzroy Street in London. Earlier this year, Charleston was delighted to acquire the painting through the government’s acceptance in lieu scheme and to re-hang it in its original position in the Spare Bedroom.
A 1927 photograph of the painting in Clive Bell’s sitting room in Gordon Square shows that its original frame was much smaller and less ornate than its current one. We would like to conserve the painting, adding a backboard to protect it, and to replace the frame with
one that is more historically accurate. This work will be undertaken by Wilma Day, Charleston’s painted surfaces conservator, who has been working with Charleston’s delicate and unique collection for over 20 years.
How you can help
Please support the Annual Fund by completing the form below and returning it to us with a cheque or credit card details. You can also make a donation by phoning 01323 815141. If you are a UK tax payer, please don’t forget to tick the Gift Aid box.
To download the annual fund form click here (pdf form)
As a small, independent charity, Charleston receives no government funding and we rely on the ongoing support of our Friends and donors to carry out all our work. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a very real difference. Please make a donation today and ensure that Sickert’s wonderful painting is restored to its original condition for future visitors to enjoy.
Images © Axel Hesslenberg.
