Chrysanthemums (2020) is the first work by Vanessa Bell to enter the Tate’s collection, having been purchased by the Contemporary Art Society’s Committee Member (and later its Chairman) Sir Edward Marsh (1872-1953) in 1923. Bell often painted flowerpieces and stylised flowers are a dominant theme of her dust jacket designs for books written by her sister, Virginia Woolf (1882-1941). After the First World War Bell had rejected her use of bright colours for more sombre tones.