Painter, sculptor, potter, writer and teacher, son of the art critic Clive Bell and the artist Vanessa Bell. He went to Leighton School and with some help from Roger Fry studied painting in England and Paris. In World War II Bell was a member of the Political Warfare Executive. Among his teaching positions were Slade professor of fine art, Oxford University, 1964–5, Ferens professor of fine art, Hull University, 1965–6, and professor of history and theory of art, Sussex University, 1967–75, then being made emeritus professor. His books included Ruskin, 1963; Bloomsbury, 1968; Virginia Woolf, a Biography, 1972; a novel, The Brandon Papers, 1985; and his memoirs, Elders and Betters, 1995. Had a series of solo shows from 1935, with a Crafts Council-funded retrospective tour from 1999.