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26 July 2019

on the cliffs laura knight sotheby's

And finally this heavenly painting by Laura Knight. It was sold a few years ago at Sotheby’s, details here. On the Cliffs is c. 1917 and, as the Sotheby’s catalogue says (referring to all Laura Knight’s Cornwall paintings of this period): ‘the days painting in the summer sun were idyllic but it is noticeable that there are no men in these cliff-top pictures as most were across the ocean facing the horrors of war. In her paintings of the Cornish coast Laura Knight defiantly celebrated the glorious British shoreline which although threatened by invasion by enemy forces remained impenetrable. The majestic rocks that these two women have scrambled across to watch the setting sun have a silent, eternal monumentality whilst the silver light mirrored by the ocean suggests the hope of the future.’

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