This chapter explores Virginia Woolf’s catalysing role for artists working in non-verbal media, including the visual arts, music, dance, and design. An analysis of Woolf’s impact beyond the medium of her writing allows for a trans-historic and international study of her legacy, charting her influence from, for example, landscape painting in Cornwall to Japanese Butoh; and from North American opera to the Ballet Russes. The chapter will trace many of the vital and fluid connections between Woolf, her contemporaries, and those whose work she has inspired. In the visual arts, case studies include: Sara Barker, Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington, Judy Chicago, Aleana Egan, Rebecca Horn, Laura Owens, and Patti Smith. The music of Edith Sitwell, Ethel Smyth, Dominick Argento, Indigo Girls, The Smiths, and Patrick Wolf is discussed alongside dance by Lydia Lopokova, Wayne McGregor, and Setsuko Yamada.
