Carrington, Dora

Dora Carrington

Dora Carrington was a decorative artist and painter. She attended the Slade School of Art (1910-1914) and was a close member of the Bloomsbury Group. She was particularly involved with Lytton Strachey with whom she lived from 1916 as housekeeper and friend even after her marriage to Ralph Partridge in 1921. She killed herself in 1932 shortly after Strachey died of cancer.

Her artistic style was broadly similar to that of her fellow Bloomsbury painters Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. Few of her paintings are known today as many are in private hands. From around 1914 she worked for several years for Roger Fry's Omega Workshop.

Dora Carrington lived in Bedford as a child (at 40 De Parys Avenue, the family later moved to 1 Rothsay Gardens after Dora had gone to the Slade).

Dora attended Bedford High School where it appears her artistic talent was soon recognised. Two years after entering the school she won a prize from the Royal Drawing Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Dora went on to become a regular winner in these annual competitions.

Further Reading:

Carrington: letters and extracts from her diaries, by D. Carrington (OUP, 1979)
Carrington: paintings, drawings and decorations, by N. Carrington (Thames and H, 1980)
Carrington: a life of Dora Carrington 1893-1932, by G. Gerzina (Murray, 1989)
The art of Dora Carrington, by J. Hill (Herbert Press, 1994)

Dora Carrington by Bedfordshire Libraries, 2005.

Page last updated: 11th September 2008