Laura Knight Portraits On show until 16 February 2014

Laing Art Gallery The latest exhibition at Newcastle’s Laing Art Gallery has proved to be a hit with visitors, exceeding its targets and gaining rave reviews from those who have seen it. Laura Knight Portraits is on show at the Laing Art Gallery until Sunday 16 February 2014. One visitor said that Laura Knight’s depiction of the Nuremberg Trial is the ‘best painting I have ever seen’, and another said that ‘it should be blasted from the hillside calling the North East to come.’ Julie Milne, Chief Curator of the Laing Art Gallery, said: “The exhibition shows a collection of Dame Laura Knight’s finest portraits including some of the works inspired by ballet and theatre which she was well known for, but also paintings from her time as a war artist during the Second World War. “We always thought that the exhibition would be popular but have been really blown away by the strength of people’s positive comments about it, which has been really wonderful.” Key works in the exhibition include a 1930 work called Ballet Girl and Dressmaker which was commissioned by American industrialist Earl Hoover. It was shown at the Royal Academy before becoming part of Hoover’s private collection in Chicago where it has remained, not being exhibited publicly for more than 80 years. Also on show are a number of portraits produced during Knight’s time as a war artist in the Second World War. These include Take Off, showing a crew of a Sterling Bomber preparing for a mission and also Knight’s large painting depicting the Nuremberg Trial, which she attended in the capacity of War Correspondent in 1946, observing proceedings from the a Press viewing box. Preparatory sketches and the diary Knight kept during this period will also be on display. Before 1907, Knight lived in the artists' colony at Staithes in Yorkshire, along with her husband, the artist Harold Knight. The couple later moved to Newlyn in Cornwall and became a part of the Newlyn School of artists. Newlyn was renowned for its quality of light and plentiful models in the form of the local fishing communities. The earliest portrait in the exhibition dates from 1913 and was painted during her time in Cornwall. Entitled Self Portrait, it shows the artist with a nude model, fellow artist Ella Naper. Laura Knight continued to paint into the 1960s, securing her reputation as one of the most celebrated artists of her time. Admission to Laura Knight Portraits is £5. Family tickets and concessions are available. Tickets are available from the Laing Art Gallery or online from www.laingartgallery.org.uk (online tickets are subject to a 95p booking fee). Laura Knight Portraits is on show at the Laing Art Gallery until 16 February 2014. The next major exhibition at the Laing will be Turner and Constable: Sketching from Nature, which opens on 1 March and brings together art by Turner, Constable and their contemporaries, on loan from Tate.