Abstract
Commercially successful and publicly celebrated during the first half of the twentieth century, Laura Knight has since become peripheral, and her figurative style equated with artistic mediocrity. Focusing on her paintings of women, often those on the fringes of society, this thesis offers a fresh perspective on her work, and demonstrates why her representations of the female figure deserve more thorough attention.This study adopts marginality at its core. It is applied as a central concept with which to engage with Knight’s images of women, and is revealed as a significant feature of her work which has, until now, been overlooked. Through detailed analysis and critique, this thesis rediscovers Knight’s complex, highly nuanced female figures as powerful motifs which reflect female experience, and which engage with a range of broader social and cultural issues. Marginality is considered both literally, in terms of physical and geographical space, and figuratively through the notion of barriers and exclusion. These ideas are explored through the themes of gender, representation and visibility, the female body and the gaze, female experience during World War One, private and public female identity, prejudice, and race. This perspective delivers an alternative account of Knight’s imagery and paves the way for new discussions of her work.
Often criticized, Knight’s work remains contested. This thesis challenges existing views and provides a long overdue, critical appraisal of her female imagery which confronts art historical traditions, and engages with wider sociological debate through the conventions of figurative representation. Providing an alternative narrative of the artist, this study makes an original contribution to the existing material on Knight, and opens up new ways of thinking about her images which engage with current debate, and which remain relevant to the modern audience.
| Date of Award | 23 Jan 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Grace Brockington (Supervisor) & Mike J O'Mahony (Supervisor) |