Duncan James Corrowr Grant was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theater sets, and costumes.
Grant spent his early childhood with his family in India and Burma. From around 1900 to 1906 he lived with his aunt and uncle, Sir Richard and Lady Strachey, and their children. He would attend "picture Sunday" with Lady Strachey and was able to meet some of the great artists of his day. It was his aunt who persuaded his parents to enroll him in the Westminster School of Art.
He was heavily influenced by the post-impressionists and frequently collaborated with Robert Fry. Fry created the Omega Workshops in 1913 and Grant became co-director with Vanessa Bell. Grant would be commissioned to decorate enormous spaces such as the First Class Main Lounge on the Queen Mary (although they tore out his work) and the Russell Chantry at the Lincoln Cathedral. He modeled Christ on his lover Paul Roche.
As his artistic education and career advanced he met economist John Maynard Keynes while on holiday. They were both a part of the Bloomsbury Group and were lovers for a time. He also had an affair with the writer and Bloomsbury member Lytton Strachey. Most of his relationships throughout his life were with men. However, he also met Vanessa Bell through the Bloomsbury Group.
They became very close friends, professional partners, and had an intimate and romantic relationship with one another. They had a daughter and both were comfortable with an open relationship in which he continued to pursue other men. By all accounts, the two remained incredibly close and lived together for over 40 years until her death.
Their daughter Angelica described her father as, "a homosexual with bisexual leanings".