Catalog of an exhibition held at Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance, June 16-Sep. 8, 2012; at Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham, Sept. 22-Nov. 4, 2012; and at Worcester City Art Gallery, Nov. 17, 2012-Feb. 10, 2013.

Laura Knight (1877-1970) was one of the most distinguished women artists of the early 20th century with an international reputation. This much-anticipated biography appears at a time of renewed interest in Dame Laura's extensive repertoire. Laura Knight: A Life probes beneath the myths and fictions that have and continue to be woven around the artist. This highly readable and objective biography covers her early years in Nottingham; relationship with her husband Harold; life in the artists colonies of Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast, Laren in Holland and Newlyn in Cornwall; Laura's subsequent immersion in the worlds of the ballet, the circus, the theatre and her travels in Europe and America; her work as a designer of theatrical costume, posters and ceramics; and her role as Official War Artist during World War 11 and recorder of the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-46. The author does more than merely draw the solid lines of Dame Laura's professional and public identity for the reader, she fills in the background, expresses the light and colour of Laura Knight's vibrant personality and, by also exploring the darker shades of her character, gives this portrait of the artist depth and perspective. If you read just one biography of Laura Knight it should be this one.

Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970) was one of Britain's most popular artists during the first half of the 20th century. Although she is known chiefly for her technically accomplished paintings of circus and ballet scenes, this book considers the full range of her graphic work - the drawings, linocuts, lithographs and etchings.

A long overdue reappraisal of an outstanding and pioneering female artist features over 35 of her finest works from across her long and prolific career.

A major survey of Dame Laura Knight, first female Royal Academician and popular British artist of the 20th century. Laura Knight (1877–1970) was one of the most famous and popular English artists of the twentieth century. She was the first woman to have a solo exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, in 1965. In the following decades her realist style of painting fell out of fashion and her work become largely overlooked. A new generation has rediscovered her work, finding a contemporary resonance in her depictions of women at work, of people from marginalized communities and her contributions as a war artist. This beautifully illustrated book, which accompanies a major exhibition at MK Gallery, provides an overview of Knight's illustrious career: from her training at Nottingham Art School at the age of 13 and her time in North Yorkshire and Cornwall, to her visits to traveller communities and a segregated American hospital. It also features her circus, ballet and theatre scenes, paintings of women during the war and her late paintings of nature. The selection of over 160 works combines celebrated paintings with less known graphic and design works, including ceramics, jewellery and costumes that reflect the artist's enduring interest in the everyday activities of people from all walks of life.

Paintings and drawing of the ballet and the stage