Knights was declared a “genius” for fusing Italian Quattrocento painting with angular Vorticist modernity, transforming a Biblical subject into a lament for the First World War. Aged just 21, she was earmarked for great things. Yet, even though she subsequently painted an altarpiece for Canterbury Cathedral, when she died suddenly of a brain tumor, she received no obituary. During her lifetime, she never exhibited by herself. Moreover, since her death, there hasn’t been a single retrospective of her work. .... Knights was born into a modest, middle-class family in the south London suburb of Streatham. She grew into a beautiful young woman known for her singular sense of style. She always wore her hair, for instance, in the manner of Renaissance bombshells such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Belle Ferronniere. Prodigiously gifted at drawing, she wanted to become a book illustrator, and enrolled at the Slade art school in 1915. She quickly became a star student, mentored by her exacting drawing tutor, Henry Tonks. [The Marriage at Cana] records Knight’s infatuation with Italian art as well as her husband, the artist Thomas Monnington... ...By the 30s, the early promise of Knight’s career had given way to frustration. Increasingly she suffered from anxiety, which had afflicted her ever since a breakdown caused by Zeppelin air raids in 1917. Following the birth of a son in 1934, she effectively stopped painting. Still, despite the fact that she was the polar opposite of prolific, it is shocking to discover that an artist blessed with this much talent could have been neglected for so long. Bravo, Dulwich Picture Gallery, for rescuing Knights from ... obscurity. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/what-to-see/winifred-knights-dulwich-picture-gallery-review-exquisite-never/) More: http://www.llfa.gallery/84art0_Winifred+Knights.htm http://arts.tepapa.govt.nz/off-the-wall/7695/watermelon-and-wine http://winifredknights.com/press.html http://www.imgrum.net/tag/WinifredKnights undefined

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