Artists

82 Artists & IllustratorsWINIFRED KNIGHTSARTY FACTS``````NATALIE MILNER EXPLORES THE LIFE OF THIS PIONEERING BRITISH PAINTER``````SHE WAS A HIGHLYPRAISED SCHOLARBorn in Streatham in 1899,Knights studied at The SladeSchool of Fine Art (1915-17and 1918-20) and received ascholarship in her final year. In1920, she was the first womanto win the Scholarship inDecorative Painting from theBritish School at Rome. Herprize-winning entry The Deluge(1920) was described as “thework of a genius” (DailyGraphic, 1921).``````SHE WAS INSPIRED BYHER OWN IMAGEOne of Knights’ early sketchbooks(1912-15) contains drawingscopied from dress catalogues andfashion magazines, with Knightstransposing her own likeness onto the models. Her self-portraiturewas authoritative; in 1920, herclose friend Allan Gwynne-Jonesteased Knights on her purchaseof a full-length mirror: “jumpingout of bed in the morning andseeing herself for the first time ina long mirror, [she was] soentranced that all the day shecould not leave.”``````SHE WAS METICULOUSABOUT DETAILKnights supported her major works with an intensityof detail on paper, in pen-and-ink, watercolour andoil. On creating The Deluge (1920), Knights used acombination of portrait studies; drawings of handsand feet; landscapes; vernacular architecture; andself-portraits to create the final composition.``````SHE ADOREDITALIAN ARTHaving studied at the BritishSchool in Rome from 1920-23,Knights returned to London fora brief time, where she felt shecould not reflect Italy’s “intensebeauty” in her work, and soreturned to Rome. Here shemarried fellow Rome ScholarThomas Monnington in April1924. To escape the heat ofthe city in the summer, theytravelled to Piediluco whereKnights worked en plein air.SHE WAS AN EARLYFEMINIST PAINTERWhen Zeppelin airships dropped 32 bombs onStreatham Knights fled to the Worcestershirecountryside to stay with relatives. Here she startedwork on The Potato Harvest (1918). This was thefirst of Knights’ compositions to portray womenworking alongside male workers. This theme can befound in Leaving the Munitions Works (1919),depicting the ‘munitionettes’ who were a prominentface of the wartime female workforce.``````WINIFRED KNIGHTS, CARTOON FOR THE DELUGE, 1920, PENCIL ON PAPER, SQUARED, 147.3X177.8CM, THE WOLFSONIAN – FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL``````UNIVERSITY, MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, THE MITCHELL WOLFSON, JR COLLECTION. © THE ESTATE OF WINIFRED KNIGHTS``````The Winifred Knights (1899-1947)exhibition is showing at DulwichPicture Gallery from 8 June until 18September 2016.http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk``````WINIFRED KNIGHTS, LANDSCAPE STUDY FOR EDGE OF ABRUZZI; BOAT WITH THREE PEOPLE ON A LAKE, 1924, THINNED OIL OVER PEN AND INK ON TRACING PAPER, 28X38CM, PRIVATE COLLECTION. © THE ESTATE OF WINIFRED KNIGHTS82 Winifred Knights.indd 82 09/06/2016 11:08