The new exhibition Laura Knight: The Art of Community opens at Bolton Museum on Saturday 19 September.
The exhibition brings together the museum’s small but significant collection of works by the pioneering British artist.
This is the first time that the four paintings and one drawing have been shown together in one gallery.
Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970) is one of Britain’s best-loved artists whose career spanned 70 years and encompassed a huge variety of subjects, techniques, and styles.
Her achievements were many: she was the first female artist to be elected as a full member of the Royal Academy, she was a prominent war artist in both World Wars, and she was made a Dame in 1929 for her services to art.
The exhibition at Bolton Museum includes her celebrated painting, The Fishing Fleet, from 1900, with the dramatic work depicting the working life of the fishing community in Staithes.
Knight lived and worked in the Yorkshire fishing village from 1897 to 1903, and she later said that her time there was vital to her development.
The exhibition also focuses on her paintings of Cornwall.
Knight moved to the seaside art colony of Newlyn, Cornwall, in 1907.
In contrast to the muted colours of North Yorkshire, the Cornish landscape provided “a riot of brilliant sunshine and opulent colour”.
The Cornwall section of the exhibition includes her stunning painting, The Cruel Sea, which has not been on display for more than five years.
The new display also features the work of some of Knight’s contemporaries, including the artists Vanessa Bell, Gertrude Hermes, and Augustus John.
Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Culture, Cllr Debbie Newall, said:
"Dame Laura Knight was one of the most influential British artists of the twentieth century, and we are proud to be showcasing these remarkable works from Bolton Museum’s collection.
“This exhibition offers visitors a wonderful opportunity to explore her artistic journey and the communities that inspired her work, while also celebrating the wider contribution of artists working during the same period.
“We look forward to welcoming visitors and hope they will be inspired to connect more deeply with their own communities and surroundings through creativity and art.”
The museum is hosting a special day on Saturday 26 September to mark the opening, with tours of the exhibition at 11am and 2pm and a craft activity for families from 1pm to 3pm.
Laura Knight: The Art of Community is on show at Bolton Museum from 19 September and runs until 10 January 2027.
About Bolton Library and Museum Services
A cultural hotspot of Bolton, the Bolton Central Library and Museum hosts eclectic events, galleries, and collections, one of which is its Egyptology collection – the largest of its kind in a local authority museum in the UK. You will also find Greater Manchester’s only public aquarium sits inside this architecturally impressive, Grade II listed building. With venues across the whole town, including the historic Smithills Hall, the Bolton Library and Museum teams organise special events, exhibitions, workshops, and social groups across the town’s libraries and halls; helping to engage, educate, and support communities.
To find out more about Bolton’s libraries and museums and what’s on, visit www.boltonlams.co.uk