- 68
Dame Laura Knight, R.A.
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Dame Laura Knight, R.A.
- Ballerinas, At the Make-Up Table
- signed and dated l.l.: Laura Knight 1957; inscribed with the title on an old label attached to the reverse
- oil on canvas
- 91 by 61 cm., 36 by 24 in.
Provenance
Sotheby's, 14 December 2006, lot 198;
Private collection
Private collection
Exhibited
Royal Academy, 1957, no. 81;
Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, 1957, no. 87;
Bournemouth, Russell Cotes Art Gallery, The Art of Dancing, March - May 1958
Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, 1957, no. 87;
Bournemouth, Russell Cotes Art Gallery, The Art of Dancing, March - May 1958
Condition
Original canvas. The work appears in good overall condition with some strong passages of impasto.
Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching.
Held in a gilt plaster frame with a canvas inset.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
‘Laura was undoubtedly happiest when painting informal scenes backstage or dancers in their dressing rooms… Her dressing-room paintings express this joy in her surroundings…’ (Caroline Fox, Dame Laura Knight, 1988, p. 52)
Laura Knight was a great lover of ballet and the theatre and her fascination with the backstage rituals of the performers is clear in a series of charming and often humorous scenes of dancers in their dressing-rooms. The present painting depicts the inner sanctum of the ballerinas' world, the cluttered dressing-room where a group of young ballerinas are applying their lipstick, filing their finger-nails and assessing their make-up in the mirrors. Knight described the scene of a ballerina's dressing-room thus; 'The dressing-table, crowded with pots of creams, powder puffs, trays of make-up, a comb, and pink ballet shoes with ribbons hanging down - all mirrored in the looking-glass behind - is ready made for a still life study. The wall around is covered with congratulatory telegrams, photographs of friends and ballet positions, to say nothing of a jar of handsome flowers picked from a former bouquet on the table itself, also duplicated in the mirror.' (Laura Knight, The Magic of Line, The Autobiography of Laura Knight D.BE., R.A., 1965, p. 157)
A second version of Ballerinas was painted in 1959, entitled Dressing Room.
Laura Knight was a great lover of ballet and the theatre and her fascination with the backstage rituals of the performers is clear in a series of charming and often humorous scenes of dancers in their dressing-rooms. The present painting depicts the inner sanctum of the ballerinas' world, the cluttered dressing-room where a group of young ballerinas are applying their lipstick, filing their finger-nails and assessing their make-up in the mirrors. Knight described the scene of a ballerina's dressing-room thus; 'The dressing-table, crowded with pots of creams, powder puffs, trays of make-up, a comb, and pink ballet shoes with ribbons hanging down - all mirrored in the looking-glass behind - is ready made for a still life study. The wall around is covered with congratulatory telegrams, photographs of friends and ballet positions, to say nothing of a jar of handsome flowers picked from a former bouquet on the table itself, also duplicated in the mirror.' (Laura Knight, The Magic of Line, The Autobiography of Laura Knight D.BE., R.A., 1965, p. 157)
A second version of Ballerinas was painted in 1959, entitled Dressing Room.