Laura Knight
(1877-1970), ArtistDame Laura Knight
Sitter in 34 portraits
Artist associated with 3 portraits
Knight studied at Nottingham School of Art in 1900, and there met Harold Knight. After marrying in 1903, they joined an artists' colony at Staithes, Yorkshire, before moving in 1908 to Newlyn, Cornwall. In 1929 she was created Dame of the British Empire, and in 1936 became the first woman elected to full membership of the Royal Academy. Her subjects included Gypsies, dancers and circus performers. During the war, her popularity and distinguished career made her an obvious choice for the War Artists Advisory Committee, who tasked British artists with recording the war. In 1945 she asked to record the trial of Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg. Her 1965 retrospective at the RA was the first accorded to a woman.
More on Laura Knight: Laura Knight Portraits exhibition
Laura Knight with model, Ella Louise Naper ('Self Portrait')
by Laura Knight
oil on canvas, 1913
On display in Room 24 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4839
by Press Association Photos
bromide print, 1927
NPG x36249
by The Times
vintage press print, 22 May 1929
NPG x137499
by Walter Stoneman
bromide print, 1930
NPG x168788
by James Jarché, for Daily Herald
modern bromide print from original negative, 28 April 1933
NPG x134148
by Bassano Ltd
half-plate glass negative, 20 February 1936
NPG x19409
by Bassano Ltd
half-plate glass negative, 20 February 1936
NPG x19410
by Bassano Ltd
half-plate glass negative, 20 February 1936
NPG x19411
by Bassano Ltd
half-plate glass negative, 20 February 1936
NPG x19412
by Bassano Ltd
half-plate glass negative, 20 February 1936
NPG x19413
by Bassano Ltd
half-plate glass negative, 20 February 1936
NPG x19414
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, 1936
NPG x134172
Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence; Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence; Laura Knight
by Photo Press
vintage bromide print, circa 1936
NPG x137321
Bertram Wagstaff Mills; Laura Knight with two unknown others
by Unknown photographer
vintage print, 1936-1937
NPG x137560
by Bassano Ltd
bromide print, 20 February 1936
NPG x85440
by Bassano Ltd
bromide print, 20 February 1936
NPG x85441
by Bassano Ltd
bromide print, 20 February 1936
NPG x85442
by Edward Malindine, for Daily Herald
modern bromide print from original negative, 30 April 1937
NPG x74795
by Associated Press
bromide print, 10 March 1937
NPG x136619
by Wide World Photos
vintage press print, 27 January 1946
NPG x137008
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Tony Copsey
01 May 2018, 15:37
As Laura Johnson, she was born at Long Eaton, Derbyshire on 4 August 1877, the youngest of the three daughters of Charles William Johnson and his wife Charlotte nee Bates (1853-1893), who married at Nottingham in 1872. In 1881, 3 year old Laura was living at 9 Noel Street, Radford, Nottingham, with her 28 year old mother Charlotte, an art teacher, and siblings Elizabeth E. 7, born Nottingham and Evangeline Agnes 5, born Greasley, Nottinghamshire; 9 Noel Street was the home of 67 year old widow Charlotte Bates, the mother of Charlotte Johnson, who was a lace maker, employing 22 people. Charlotte Johnson taught part-time at the Nottingham School of Art, and managed to have 13 year old Laura enrolled as a non-fee paying 'artisan student'. In 1891, Charlotte was a 38 year old widowed art teacher, living at Birkin Avenue, Radford, Nottingham with her 15 year old daughter Evangeline Agnes, a pupil teacher at a Board School. At the age of fifteen, and still a student, Laura Johnson took over her mother's teaching duties when Charlotte became seriously ill. At the School of Art, Laura met another promising students, 17 year old Harold Knight....