Wartime Heroes and Villains
WAR TIME HEROES AND VILLAINS
Phil Jarman looks at her contributions to recording the Second World War through her work
Before the outbreak of the Second World War Dame Laura Knight was a popular and highly successful artist, widely known for her stunning portraiture as well as her reportage style to record scenes and, occasionally, controversial subject matter and her contribution to the art world was rewarded in 1936, when she became the first woman elected to the Royal Academy since its foundation in 1768. As such a renowned artist, Knight who worked in oils, watercolour and also adopted analogue print technologies throughout her early career, was fully prepared to be employed as an official war artist from 1939.
Under the direction of Sir Kenneth Clark, the War Artists’ Advisory Committee commissioned Knight in a variety of roles from the outbreak of the war. As a woman who had enjoyed decades of artistic autonomy, her role as a war artist was not without its challenges. Throughout her career she had faced strong opposition and opinions in a truly male dominated world, where women artists were limited in scope of subject matter and opportunities to exhibit at prestigious events.
