Throughout her career still-life images were important elements in Vanessa Bell’s work. Here the composition has been divided into two distinct areas of light and dark. Much of the vase is concealed by shadow, through which flowers emerge, almost floating in the composition. Vanessa Bell is today considered a major figure in 20th century British painting. She was one of the first British artists to produce abstract compositions and was a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group, which also included Roger Fry, Duncan Grant and Dora Carrington.