Accompanying the exhibition of the same name at MK Gallery in Milton Keynes (until Feb 23, 2025), this is the largest ever survey of work by Vanessa Bell (1879–1961), a pioneering modernist once described as ‘the most important woman painter in Europe’. The book traces Bell’s explorations into the Italian Renaissance, her encounters with the European avant-garde (including Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso) and her leading role in social and cultural activities. It also examines her role in the development of abstract art, creating what friend and art critic Roger Fry called ‘visual music’, and collaborations with her sister, the writer Virginia Woolf, and the artist Duncan Grant. Included are over 130 landscapes, still lifes and portraits spanning her entire career alongside her wider approach to creativity through design, furniture, ceramics and drawings.