This is a wonderful exhibition by one of my favourite artists. I really admire her because she was a pioneer for women artists and painted a variety of fascinating subjects portrayed in her own strong style. she painted the theatre, circus, gypsies, ballet dancers and was even captured the ww11. In the exhibition you can see her style become more refined never losing her strong sense of line and design but her paintwork becomes more confident over the years. How lovely to see an exhibiton of storng drawing, pastel, watercolour and oil. These are mediums usually not exhibited but these for me are my favourite pieces of work. Laura captures the character and strenght of her subjects as well as showing their setting, cirsuc giving the auienc a glimse into their lives.
National Portrait exhibition
Dame Laura Knight (1877 –1970) was one of the most popular and pioneering British artists of the twentieth century. Her artistic career took her from Cornwall to Baltimore, and from the circus to the Nuremberg Trials. She painted dancers at the Ballets Russes and Gypsies at Epsom races, and was acclaimed for her work as an official war artist.
Knight used portraiture to capture contemporary life and culture, and her paintings are remarkable for their diverse range of subjects and settings. This exhibition of over thirty portraits will reveal Knight’s highly distinctive and vivid work, and also illustrate her success in gaining greater professional recognition for women in the arts.
Points of Interest
Laura Knight (1877-1970) was the first woman artist to be made a Dame of the British Empire.
* She was a figurative Painter who was renowned for her drawing and graphical art skills and her paintings of the ballet and theatre and portraits of people at war.
* She was an official war artist at the Nuremburg Trials after World War 2.
* She was the first woman to be honoured with a retrospective Exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1965.
This website provides links to all the available online material which tells the story of Dame Laura Knight and shows you where you can see her paintings
National portrait exhibition webiste
http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/laura-knight-portraits/exhibition.php
For up to date information on forthcoming books and exhibitions
http://www.damelauraknight.com/
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