Laura Knight, the 20th-century artist

 

Knight, Portrait of Ethel Bartlett

Laura Knight celebrates what she paints, which is what makes this show inspiring. Yet celebrations would be nothing without a fearsome talent for likenesses. From her very earliest work she shows a gift for figure drawing, and for capturing facial expressions, something that is a feature of her work throughout her long career. Apart from a few minor exceptions, Knight painted who she wanted to paint and captured something about them, something about their character.

Portrait of Major Atherley

Much is made in the exhibition of her hiring professional models to be able to paint the female nude, but more significant, I think, is that she paints the female body in such an affirmative way. The bodies in her paintings are consciously beautiful. The few depictions of males are  excellent as well, but for some reason, she depicts only female nudes, not male. 

It appears that whatever she turned her attention to resulted in fascinating images. Her images of ballet dancers are remarkable, especially those of dancers adjusting their shoe, or preparing to appear. The contrast between the mundane dressing room, and the iconic, mythic images conveyed by the dancer, is thrillingly evident:

The Ballet shoe

Almost annoyingly, whatever Knight depicts turns out to be beautiful. There appears to be no ugliness in her work. Nor does she only paint the young; some of her gypsy portraits are of a mother and daughter, and both the young and old faces are treated with respect, even reverence. Even her wartime images (with the exception of the sketches of the Nuremberg Trials) seem to be presenting an affirmative view. No wonder she was employed as a war artist.

 Perhaps not surprisingly, the best images from the war are representations of work. Her images of men and women at work are fascinating, because the viewer seems to become engaged in the work process as Knight clearly was when painting it. She later described her horror as the weapons of destruction being assembled, but no revulsion is visible in the images of women making armaments.

 

Ruby Loftus, 1943

There are downsides to Knight’s work. Landscapes are often depicted in garishly bright colours. Textiles, however, have a tactile feel to them and are so good, they at times almost take up the entire canvas. Given her fame, she was able to paint any subject she chose, and her images of Afro-Americans in segregated hospitals, and Travellers at the Epsom Derby, today raise a suspicion of condescension.

If we are all famous for fifteen minutes, Knight will be famous for one image – perversely, not included in this show. It is, of course, her self-portrait with nude. As an indication of the different standards in operation today, the painting is today titled with the name of the model, rather than just “nude”. But the nude is facing away; we don’t see her face. It doesn’t matter who she is. The image conveys worldliness, sophistication, triumph of the artist. Here is my world, she is stating defiantly. I’m a success. I can paint, and I can take my place in the 20th-century as an equal of anybody.