Knight, Laura, Dame, 1877 - 1970
Dates
- Existence: 1877 - 1970
Biography
Dame Laura Knight, is the most celebrated British impressionist female artist of all time and the first woman to ever be elected to the Royal Academy. In her long career Knight was among the most successful and popular painters in Britain. Her success in the male-dominated British art establishment paved the way for greater status and recognition for women artists.
She was interested in marginalised communities and individuals and found great inspiration in circus performers. In the early 1920s Knight visited the Bertram Mills Circus, where she painted some of its performers. Throughout 1929 and 1930 Knight went on tour with the combined Bertram Mills and Great Carmo's Circus, painting the performers.
In 1929 Knight was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and in June 1931 she received an honorary degree from St. Andrews University. Knight was elected President of the Society of Women Artists in 1932, post which she held until 1967.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Circus Friends Association Collection
This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses
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- Subject: Dwarfs (Persons) X