A Life Among the Bloomsbury Circle

Eardley Knollys lived a life deeply entwined with the intellectual and social currents of mid-century Britain. Born in Alresford, Hampshire, he was raised in a family with connections to the landed gentry, being the son of Cyprian Robert Knollys and Audrey Hill. His early years were shaped by an education at Winchester College and Christ Church, Oxford, providing a foundation for a career that would eventually touch many corners of the art world.

For much of his adult life, he was known more for his role in the movement of art than for his own brushwork. He was a figure within the Bloomsbury Group, moving through circles of critics, dealers, and collectors. Alongside his partner, Frank Coombs, he managed the Storran Gallery on Brompton Road from 1936 until 1944. In this space, he helped bring works by artists such as Amedeo Modigliani and Chaïm Soutine to the public eye. The gallery closed following the death of Coombs in a wartime air raid in Belfast.

His social world was often centered around a Georgian rectory in Long Crichel, Dorset. This home became a gathering place for a specific group of friends from the worlds of music and literature. During the Second World War, his work with the National Trust allowed him to travel through many country houses, an experience that would later find its way into his own observations of the landscape.

The Late Emergence of a Painter

It was not until much later in life that Knollys turned his attention to creating his own images. He did not begin to paint until 1949, well after he had established himself as an art dealer and critic. This late start meant that his first solo exhibition did not occur until 1960, when he was fifty-eight years old. By this time, his reputation in British art circles was already established, though now through a different medium.

His subject matter often reflected the quiet beauty of the English countryside and the simple arrangements of domestic life. His works included:

• Landscape studies such as Dorset landscape and View from Long Crichel
• Still lifes featuring Poppies in a jug, Fruit plate on blue, and Still life with roses
• Studies of trees, including Elm trees and Cherry tree
• Reflections and views like Reflections at Mottisfont

The textures of his work varied between oil on canvas, oil on board, and even gouache. He used different surfaces to capture the light and structure of his surroundings, from the heavy presence of a Black Hut to the delicate petals of flowers in a vase.

A Final Legacy

The end of Knollys' life saw the culmination of a lifetime spent surrounded by beauty. In 1965, he inherited a significant collection of art from Edward Sackville-West, which he continued to grow. This collection eventually became known as The Radev Collection, named after Mattei Radev, a former lover and a figure who helped preserve these works for the future. This assembly of more than 800 pieces includes Impressionist and Modernist art.

When he passed away in 1991, his personal history and his professional contributions remained linked through the many people and places he had known. His life remains a part of the recorded history of the British art scene, preserved through both his paintings and the vast collection of works he helped curate and protect.