Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell (1910-1996) was an artist, potter, author and founding Professor of the History and Theory of Art at the University of Sussex from 1967 to 1975. He was the son of Clive Bell (1881-1964) and Vanessa Stephen (1879-1961) - and the nephew of the writer Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), with whom he enjoyed a trusted and affectionate relationship throughout their lives and whose first elected biographer he was to become. Bell's papers bear witness to that familial affection and to the responsibility and care which he bestowed on his distinguished aunt's literary memory. Bell's highly praised Virginia Woolf: a biography, 2 vols (London: Hogarth Press, 1972), won not only the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, but also the Duff Cooper Prize and the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award. After the death of Virginia's widower, Leonard Woolf (1880-1969), Quentin Bell and his sister Angelica Garnett inherited Virginia Woolf's literary estate, the administration of which was undertaken by Quentin (see SxMs 13 and 18). In this and in all aspects of Woolf matters he was able to call on the knowledge and judgement of his wife Anne Olivier Bell, later editor with Andrew McNeillie of The diary of Virginia Woolf, 5 vols (London: Hogarth Press, 1977-84) (see SxMs 70). In the years that followed there has continued to be vigorous interest in all aspects of Virginia Woolf's life and work.
From the guide to the Quentin Bell Papers, 1940s-1997, (University of Sussex Library)
