Laura Knight
Dame Laura Knight, DBE, RA RWS (4 August 1877 – 7 July 1970) was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition who embraced English Impressionism. During her long career, Knight was among the most successful and popular painters in Britain. In 1929 she was created a Dame and in 1936 became the first woman elected to the Royal Academy since its foundation in 1768. Her large retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy, in 1965, was another first for a woman. Although Knight was known for painting amidst the world of the theatre and ballet in London, and for being a war artist during the Second World War, she was also greatly interested in, and inspired by, more marginalised communities and individuals including Gypsies and circus performers. Her success in the male-dominated British art establishment paved the way for greater status and recognition for women artists.
Biography
Early life
Podcasts:
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by Heart Of Cygnus
The Knight
by: Heart Of CygnusNo love for useless talk
Nor sleep or excess pleasure
He lives to train, enduring pain
His master's word, his measure
Early morning sunrise finds him
on the fencing grounds
Pursuing quick precision
until mastery is found
And those who ride
Must follow in the way
Of the Knight and Nobleman
For those who fight
Have already layed down their lives
He knows no will but sovereignty
His honor knows no price
His heart is love and loyalty
His body knows no vice
Ready as the dawn breaks
or as even fades to night
His heart prepared for battle
And his hands, prepared to fight
And those who ride
Must follow in the way
Of the Knight and Nobleman
For those who fight