Summer in February

Dame Laura Knight painter 1877 - 1970

This post has been sitting in my drafts for the last 6 months, but with the release of the film about some of the Newlyn artists this is perhaps a good time to show it. I am also on a mission to feature more women painters, and Dame Laura Knight is right up there as one of my favourites.

The film "Summer in February" is set in the stunning Cornish landscape where the colony of painters lived and worked at the beginning of the 20th century. The film is not on general release but can be seen in specialised cinemas and theatres. However, these are readily found on the internet, and when I did a search I managed to find a location within a reasonable distance of where we live. In the film Laura and her husband Harold feature prominently. If you have not been to Cornwall then this film will entice you to visit especially when you see the breathtaking shots of the sweeping sands of Porthcurno, and Lamorna Cove.

Self Portrait

Laura was born in my home county of Derbyshire to a family that struggled; her father died shortly after her birth. At Nottingham Art School she met Harold Knight - painter, her future husband, whose work she greatly admired.

In 1907 they moved to the artists' colony in Newlyn, Cornwall where she painted in an Impressionist style.

The Beach

The Beach was one of the first paintings Laura did when she moved to Cornwall. Typically depicting the Cornish beaches it was widely admired by other artists and also the general public.

At the end of the First World War, the Knights moved to London, where Laura met many of the famous ballet dancers of the day, some of her most admired work dates from this period.

The Ballet Shoe

The Dressing Room at Drury Lane

In 1929 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and in 1936 was the first women elected to the Royal Academy. During the second World War, she was made an official war artist, following which she also became the official artist at the Nuremberg Trials.

A Balloon Site, Coventry

Ruby Loftus screwing a Breech Ring

Take-Off: Interior of a Bomber Aircraft

The Nuremberg Trials

In the 1920s Laura was struck by the visual potential of circus life following a visit to Bertram Mills Circus in Olympia which then led on to her enthusiasm for painting gypsies.

Circus Matinee

With her gift of establishing friendships with her subjects she was invited to join a group of gypsies at their encampment on Iver Heath. Here she did several of her gypsy paintings considered remarkable for their unsentimental treatment.

Gypsies, Caravan and Pony

Romany Belles

Young Gypsies

Hop-Picking Granny Knowles - An Old Hand

Women interested in art, and women artists, have all too few role models - Laura Knight is one of the most inspiring.

all images courtesy BBC paintings website

Rogaland Kunstmuseum Stavanger

My eldest son and his family are in the middle of leaving Norway after five wonderful years. Today their house contents will be packed and then travel on to France. They will fly to their new home in Paris after a holiday in a log cabin on a Norwegian island.

I did this post and one that will follow after our last visit to them in early January, both have been languishing in drafts. 

A visit to the Museum of Fine Arts in Stavanger gave us an interesting visit for several reasons. The domed atrium conservatory entrance is a meeting point with a small cafe and a shop selling Nordic arts and crafts. We had just commenced our visit to the art gallery when one of the curators called us back into the atrium to listen to some music. Four young women were singing a new piece of Norwegian music without any instrumental backing. It is difficult to describe how haunting the singing echoing around the dome was. As they sang they slowly moved around, sometimes close together, at other times in the far corners from one another and creating an 'other worldly' melodic humming throughout the space. Our 16 year old granddaughter was enthralled, she has a lovely singing voice herself, and regularly sings in and around the Stavanger area - she was awarded a Saturday scholarship by Stavanger university to receive singing tuition in their music department, which she will now have to relinquish with their move.

Kitty Kielland sketch by Olav Rusti 

The art gallery introduced me to the work of Kitty Kielland (1843 - 1914) a Norwegian landscape painter. Kitty was born to an affluent family in Stavanger, and was the older sister of Alexander Kielland, also an artist. Although she received some training in drawing and painting, it was not until she turned thirty that she was allowed to train as a professional artist. She travelled to Karlsruhe where she was trained by Hans Gude, but as a women she was forced to take private lessons from Gude instead of being able to join his landscape painting class. She made rapid progress during the two years she spent training under his guidance. His adherence to realism left a lasting impression on Kitty that was visible in her later works. After the two years she departed for Munich where she joined a colony of Norwegian artists. In Munich she studied with Hermann Baisch, and Norwegian Eilif Peterssen whom she considered to be her most important teacher.

She spent 10 years living in Paris and this painting is from that period. Bretton women washing clothes and hanging them on the rocks to dry

Blossom tree in Cernay-la-Ville

Painter in the landscape at Cernay-la-Ville

Sommernatt 1886

Peat Bogs on Jæren 1882

Blått interiør (1883)

Effer solnedgang 1885

This painting above is in Stavanger art gallery

Paris interior
all images via wikipedia

This is my favourite painting - which seems fitting on this occasion as it shows Paris by a Norwegian artist.  

As we left the art gallery my eye was attracted to the nordic gift shop, and there I saw several Flensted mobiles. You may be familiar with them. 

In 1953, Christian Flensted from Denmark, created a stork mobile to celebrate the birth of his daughter. This first design was a great success and it now flies all over the world. In 1956 he gave up his job to devote his entire efforts to the fledgling mobile business. You can now buy mobiles for every occasion from festive Christmas trees to butterflies for the nursery. However, the ones I like the most are the abstract designs. The one I chose was a display item only, but they kindly let me purchase it for half price.

Mrs. Delany 1700 - 1788

Mary Delany

via

Painting in National Portrait Gallery, London.

Painted by John Opie 

Recently I saw a small piece of Mrs. Delany's exquisite paper cut work. I knew about her several years ago, but she had slipped from my mind. However, seeing the little piece reminded me of her beautiful work.
Mrs. Delany, Mary, had always been an avid artist, and loved gardening. She was good at needlework, drawing, painting and cutting paper. It is the paperwork for which she is most well known.  She called them her flower mosaicks, made out of coloured paper. In 1772, at the age of 72 years she began to create cut out paper artworks, decoupage, as was the fashion for ladies of the court. Mrs. Delany was a member of Queen Caroline's court - Caroline was the wife of King George III. She created nearly a thousand collages over 10 years before her failing eyesight caused her to stop. They are exceptionally detailed and botanically accurate depictions of plants. She used tissue paper and hand colouration to produce these pieces. She took great care to make sure each of her flower details were correct in the number of stamens and petals.  She became so well known that many donors began to send flowers for her to make cuttings of. The flower mosaicks fill 10 albums, which can be seen  in the Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum, London.

Crinium Asiaticum - Asiatic Crinum

Physalis - Chinese Lantern - Winter Cherry

Passiflora Laurifolia, Bay Leaved- Passionflower

Bombax Ceiba - Red Silk Cotton Tree

Nymphea Alba - White Water Lily

Amaryllis Aurea Solander

Alcea Rosea - Hollyhock

Aletris Iris Uvaria - I think the name of this has now changed to (Kniphofia) - Red Hot Poker

Iris Squalens - Iris

Aeschelus Hippocastanum - Horse Chestnut

kind permission of The British Museum

This book, recently published, The Paper Garden, by Molly Peacock, relates her more than interesting life, and shows many of her delicious paper cut flowers.

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H visited the British Museum last week and went to see Mrs. Delany's work. You go to the 4th floor - the Prints and Drawings area. Behind a screen with a Michelangelo cartoon, there is a door to room 90. Ring the bell, when you have shown proof of your identity, someone will let you through. Once you are admitted, bags etc are taken from you and placed in a locker. You are then taken to a desk, where a gallery assistant will give you protective gloves, and bring a box of Mrs. Delany's work to you. Once you have seen one box, you can have another. This area does not keep the museum hours, they shut for lunch and close earlier.

Marianne North - Botanical Artist

Marianne North was one of those intrepid Victorian women. She travelled the globe in her quest to seek out flora to satisfy her passion to paint them.  In 1871, and already aged 40, she spent the next 13 years travelling, and so began her incredible collection of nearly 900 paintings.
She visited America, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil, Tenerife, Japan, Singapore, Sarawak, Java, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Seychelles, Borneo and Chile. Often she was away for long periods at a time. She spent 18 months visiting various regions of India; in Brazil she spent 13 months travelling into the interior and making long and arduous journeys across very rough terrain. 
Her name is perhaps more familiar in Brazil than in the UK, where they often use her flower paintings to adorn their stamps.  Perhaps the main reason for her name being unknown to many here is because she painted for her own delight and pleasure. She was descended from Lord North, Prime Minister 1770 - 82, and she received a large legacy from her own father when he died.  Her paintings never appear on the market, she had no need to sell them, so she donated them to Kew Gardens. There they have a special Marianne North Gallery building in the grounds, which is full of her paintings. The building has recently been restored at a cost of over 3 million pounds, and is well worth a visit.

Interior of one of the gallery rooms before restoration.

Nepenthes northiana - named after Marianne

Olearia argophylla

images via Wikipedia