Interior of a Carpenter's Workshop

Dame Laura Knight 1877 - 1970

Summary

An interior scene of a carpenter's workshop, with the carpenter working and leaning over his bench to the right, watched by a bearded man in fisherman's waders sitting on the floor in bottom left corner. Two children are in the centre by open door: the small girl is playing on the floor to the left; the older boy is to the right, standing with a wicker basket in one hand, watching the carpenter. The floor is lined with straw, and the red brick walls are covered in work tools. There is a view of sea and boats through the doorway.

Display Label

Interior of a Carpenter's Workshop about 1907 Dame Laura Knight 1877-1972 Oil on canvas Knight lived at Staithes, Yorkshire from 1897 until 1907, then in Newlyn, Cornwall, for the next ten years. Both these fishing villages had become artists' colonies, paralleling the French tradition of painter-communities in Barbizon, Britanny and elsewhere. This work is probably from Knight's early Cornish period, echoing the working-class interiors of older Newlyn artists such as Frank Bramley and Stanhope Forbes. It also echoes Knight's interest in Dutch painting, which she had seen during a visit to Holland in 1904. The painting has been newly conserved for this display and has a new frame based on contemporary designs. It is here shown publicly for the first time. Gift of Councillor CEP Stott, 1951 1981.181