Laura Knight: Portraits

Laura Knight (1877 - 1970) was one of the leading English painters of the twentieth century. However, her rejection of modernism and her association with the mainstream led to a decline in her reputation, and since her death she has fallen into obscurity. This long-overdue reappraisal of a pioneering female artist features over 35 of her finest works from across her long and prolific career, demonstrating both the variety of her subjects and her consummate skills as an artist. During the course of an extraordinarily productive career that spanned over 70 years, Knight's work reflected her commitment to depicting modern life and her fascination with the human figure, as asserted in her iconic "Self Portrait" (1913). This book demonstrates Knight's impressive skills as a painter and draftsman and her compassionate approach to the sitters with whom she worked, while also presenting a distinctive picture of twentieth-century Britain.