In 1929 she was created a Dame, and in 1936 became the first woman elected to full membership of the Royal Academy. Her large retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1965 was the first for a woman. Knight was known for painting amidst the world of the theatre and ballet in London, and for being a war artist during the Second World War. She was also greatly interested in, and inspired by, marginalised communities and individuals, including Gypsies and circus performers
For a full biography see part 1, and for earlier works, see parts 1 and 2 also.
This is part 3 of an 8-part series on the works of Dame Laura Knight:
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1923 Swing Boats
aquatint 9.8 x 6.8 cm |
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1924 Dressing Room
oil on canvas 63.5 x 76.2 cm
Atkinson Art Museum, Southport, UK |
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1924 Gwen Ffrancon Davies as Juliet
pencil,watercolour and chalk 36.2 x 25.4 cm
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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1924 Vanda Evina in Her Dressing Room
pen and ink on paper 35.8 x 25 cm
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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c1924 Two Dancers in a Dressing Room
lithograph 48.3 x 38.2 cm
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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1925 Dresser at Drury Lane Theatre
etching and aquatint 35 x 25 cm |
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1925 Filia Mundi
drypoint and aquatint 29.2 x 29.2 cm (plate) |
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1925 Make-Up
etching and drypoint 24.9 x 19.7 (plate) |
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1925 Powder and Paint
etching and aquatint 33 x 27.3 cm |
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1925 Putting on Rouge
soft ground etching 35.1 x 24.6 cm (plate) |
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1925 The Lipstick
etching and engraving 24.4 x 19.7 cm (plate) |
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c1925 A Dancing Class at Maestro Enrico Cecchetti's School, London
lithograph 38.7 x 50.8 cm
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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1926 A Daughter of Israel
drypoint 35.6 x 26 cm (plate) |
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1926 Gilding the Lily, (Lubov Tchernecheva)
soft ground etching and drypoint 29.4 x 19 cm |
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1926 Pantomime
soft ground etching 33.7 x 24 |
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1926 Putting on Tights
etching 20.2 x 17.5 cm (plate) |
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1926 Sennen Cove, Cornwall
oil on canvas 61 x 76 cm |
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1926 Study of a Young Woman
watercolour, pastel, and charcoal on ivory laid paper, laid down board 39.7 x 28.4 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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1926 The Young Artists
oil on canvas
Private Collection |
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1926-27 Pearl Johnson
watercolour and pastel |
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c1926 Ethel Bartlett
oil on canvas 76.7 x 64.1 cm
Atkinson Art Gallery Collection, Southport, UK |
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c1926 Sennen Cove
(details not found) |
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1927 Cornish Harbour
drypoint 25 x 35.1 cm
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA |
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1927 Matador, Danish Horse
charcoal 35.6 x 25 |
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1927 The Convalescent, study for Juanita
pastel 38 x 29 cm |
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1928 Juanita
etching and drypoint 25.1 x 17.4 cm |
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1928 Changing
drypoint etching 20.3 x 17.1 cm
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK |
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1928 Heather Ealand
oil on canvas 55.8 x 45.7 cm
Private Collection |
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1928 Southern Blonde
mezzotint 25.4 x 20 cm (plate) |
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1928 Susie
drypoint 24.8 x 34.9 cm (plate) |
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1928 The Bather
drypoint 34.9 x 24.8 cm (plate) |
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c1928 Circus People
oil on canvas 61 x 50.8 cm |
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before 1929 Dressing
oil on canvas 50.8 x 45.7 cm
Private Collection |
1929 Charivari
Major Evelyn Atherly was an avid enthusiast of the circus and challenged the artist to include all the performers of the circus on one picture and she accepted the challenge despite her husband, Harold telling her she was mad to accept such an impossible request.
She composed the work in her studio over the carpenter’s shop at Mousehole in Cornwall and set about the task from her many drawings of the circus.
The painting was given its name by a circus friend of the artist – Goliath the Clown at Carmos Circus. He just christened it quite naturally, and the artist couldn’t better the title he had suggested.
Many painters not knowing it was a commission thought as Harold had, that Laura was mad to have painted such an odd picture, which was caricatured in many newspapers and became the cause of Laura being labelled a Circus Painter.
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1929 Charivari (The Grand Parade)
oil on canvas 99 x 125 cm
Newport Museum and Art Gallery, UK |
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issued 1929 The Yorkshire Coast
poster for London and North Eastern Railway (LNER)
colour lithograph 100 x 125.3 cm |
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1929 Joe Craston & Buffer, Scene from a Circus
pencil, charcoal and watercolour 36 x 26 cm |
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1929 Susie and the Wash Basin
oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm
Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, UK |
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1929 The Last Act
oil on canvas 139.7 x 106.7 cm
Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection, UK |
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1929-30 A Musical Clown
oil on canvas 76.2 x 63.5 cm
Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, UK |
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1929-30 Elsie on 'Hassan'
oil on canvas 68.6 x 76.2 cm
Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, UK |
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1929-30 The Skater
chalk and wash on paper 25 x 34 cm
H.M. Government Art Collection, UK |
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1930 Ballet Girl and Dressmaker
oil on canvas 96 x 122 cm
Private Collection |
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| 1930 Study for 'Ballet Girl and Dressmaker' |
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before 1930 Motley, preparing for her entrance
oil on canvas 157 x 122 cm |
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1930 Dancing on Hampstead Heath
aquatint 27.3 x 19.7 cm (plate) |
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1930 Elephant Ride
charcoal 30.5 x 24 |
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1930 Lilian
drypoint 34.9 x 24.8 cm (plate) |
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1930 Marjorie Mars as Henrietta Moulton-Barrett in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street"
watercolour, gouache and chalk 58.4 x 44.4 cm |
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1930 Zebras
etching 27 x 36 cm |
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1930-31 Some Clowns
drypoint 34.3 x 24 |
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c1930-39 Theatre Performance
mixed media 24.5 x 34 cm |
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c1930 Dita Boa at the London Palladium
watercolour 51.5 x 39 cm |
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c1930 Portrait of a Baby
charcoal and chalks 55.8 x 38.1 cm |
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c1930 Seated Clown at The Great Carmo or Bertram Mills' Circus
charcoal on paper 37.1 x 27.1 cm
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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late 1930s Gypsies at Ascot
oil on canvas 79 x 65 cm
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery, UK |
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before 1931 The Maiden
oil on canvas 61 x 51 cm |
