From arguing for women to be included in life drawing sessions at art school, to drawing the Ballet Russes and sketching the defendants at the Nuremberg Trials, Laura Knight painted outside the lines of her time.
Laura Knight (1877–1970), The Cornish Coast aka Two Girls and a Dog, 1917, oil on canvas, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru (National Museum Wales).
© Reproduced with permission of The Estate of Dame Laura Knight DBE RA 2021. All Rights Reserved / Bridgeman Images. Courtesy of the Penlee House Gallery and Museum
In the National Portrait Gallery, London, there is a rather modern self-portrait by Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970). She stands with her back turned to the viewer, with a nude female model to her right. Self Portrait aka Self and Nude (1913) is filled with bright colors and clear lines that seem far ahead of her time. Knight was one of the most celebrated British artists and declared a “national treasure” by the middle of the 20th century.
Early Life in Nottingham Laura Knight née Johnson had a modest upbringing in the Midlands. Her parents separated when she was young, and she moved with her mother’s family to Nottingham, where her uncle ran a lace-manufacturing business. Showing early artistic promise, she was encouraged by her mother, Charlotte, to pursue a career as an artist. When the family business fell on hard times in 1890, Laura was sent to the Nottingham…
com.dsi.gazette.Article : 27107
This article is for subscribers only
You still have 85% left to read.
Print the article
