Dame Laura Knight, R.A., R.W.S. (1877-1970)

Knight's interest in circuses began with her childhood memories of the Nottingham Goose Fair and later at Bertram Mills’ Circus at Olympia, London. In the early 1930s she undertook a regional tour of the Midlands with Carmo's Circus and fell in love 'with circus life ... for years (three months at a stretch), she lived with a troupe of performers, touring the country with them, until she actually became one of them ... filling sketchbook upon sketchbook ... till she could discard the sketchbook for canvas and paint, the well-known results of which have become world-famous' (Adrian Hill, 'Famous Artists: No. 1 Dame Laura Knight, ARA', The Artist, vol. 2, no. 5, January 1932, p. 208).

She wrote of her admiration for the acrobats: ‘I have often tried to analyse the circus appeal. It is the display of indomitable courage that one sees and admires, an admiration inherent in the human race. Gravitation is defied - the impossible is possible. I heard an acrobat say once, "No matter what we come to, we have lived. I was the King of the Earth when I was young, the laws that governed other people did not govern me, I could do anything”’ (Laura Knight, Oil Paint and Grease Paint, 1936).

This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the work of Dame Laura Knight currently being prepared by R John Croft FCA, the artist’s great-nephew.