Dame Laura Knight Fulfills a Horse Portrait Commission from Lord Astor
Group of Correspondence: 5 Autograph Letters, signed; and 2 Autograph Notes, signed, to Lord Astor; and 2 Autograph Notes, signed, to Miss Tindersley (Lord Astor's Secretary).
16 Langford Place St., John's Wood, N.W.8: 1937 & 1938.
Price: $750.00
About the item
1 vols. 8vo. Dame Laura Knight Fulfills a Horse Portrait Commission from Lord Astor. Fine.
Item #53967
An inside look at an enterprise by the greatest female Engliish painter of her time, Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970). In 1936, she “was elected Royal Academician, the first woman to become a full member of the Royal Academy”.
The correspondence concerns Dame Laura's commission to do a picture of two of Lord Astor's horses (Pag-up and Mannamead), to include the making of preparatory studies at the Astor stud. She outlines her prices, ranging “from 350 guineas for about 20 x 24” to “650 guineas for 50 x 40”. With a few interesting asides, such as, “I am backing ‘Cash Book’ for the Derby and I am praying he wins.” The picture finished, she comments, “It was a hard subject to paint: two brown horses made an equally divided interest”.
