# Laura Knight artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/laura-knight/ Profile generated: 2026-05-02T02:02:35.200Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1877-08-04 - Death date: 1970-07-07 - Nationality: English, British - Movements: English Impressionism, Figurative realism - Common media: oil painting, watercolour, etching, drypoint, engraving ## About Laura Knight Dame Laura Knight (1877–1970) was an English painter and printmaker regarded as one of the most successful and popular British artists of the twentieth century. Born Laura Johnson in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, she trained at the Nottingham School of Art and built a career spanning oils, watercolours, etching, engraving, and drypoint. Working within the figurative and realist tradition while embracing English Impressionism, Knight became known for vibrant scenes of ballet, circus, theatre, and rural life. In 1929 she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and she later became the first woman elected to full membership of the Royal Academy of Arts since its founding. During the Second World War she served as an official war artist, documenting women's contributions to the war effort. Her long career helped establish greater recognition for women in the British art establishment. ## Common works and media Oil paintings of circus, ballet, and theatre subjects; coastal and landscape scenes from Staithes and Cornwall; portraits and figure studies; wartime depictions of women in industry and military service; watercolours of rural and theatrical life; etchings, drypoints, and engravings including figure studies and animal subjects; poster designs and commercial illustrations. ## Market and appraisal context Laura Knight's secondary market is active and broadly distributed, with 95 recorded auction lots and 68 priced results spanning 2005 through April 2026. Liquidity has increased noticeably, with 8 lots appearing in the most recent 12-month window compared to 3 in the prior 12 months, suggesting steady collector demand. Her works trade primarily through UK regional and London salerooms—Christie's, Forum Auctions, Mallams, John Nicholson's, Chiswick, and David Duggleby appear frequently—alongside US houses such as Swann Auction Galleries and Hill Auction Gallery, and Australian houses including Leonard Joel and Colville Auctions. The price distribution is wide: the median sits at £420 / $500 equivalent, the 75th percentile near £940, and the recorded maximum is £17,500. Prints (etchings, drypoints, and engravings) dominate transaction volume and cluster in the £200–£550 / $400–$550 band. Significant oils, watercolours, and theatre-related works command substantially more—for example, Sotheby's sold costume designs for the ballet 'Les Roses' at £6,300, Swann realised $6,250 for a 1929 Yorkshire Coast poster, and Leonard Joel achieved AUD $8,000 for the watercolour 'Up the Rope Ladder'. Circus, ballet, and theatre subjects consistently attract the strongest bidding, which aligns with Knight's established reputation in those genres. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Laura Knight's secondary market is active and broadly distributed, with 95 recorded auction lots and 68 priced results spanning 2005 through April 2026. Liquidity has increased noticeably, with 8 lots appearing in the most recent 12-month window compared to 3 in the prior 12 months, suggesting steady collector demand. Her works trade primarily through UK regional and London salerooms—Christie's, Forum Auctions, Mallams, John Nicholson's, Chiswick, and David Duggleby appear frequently—alongside US houses such as Swann Auction Galleries and Hill Auction Gallery, and Australian houses including Leonard Joel and Colville Auctions. The price distribution is wide: the median sits at £420 / $500 equivalent, the 75th percentile near £940, and the recorded maximum is £17,500. Prints (etchings, drypoints, and engravings) dominate transaction volume and cluster in the £200–£550 / $400–$550 band. Significant oils, watercolours, and theatre-related works command substantially more—for example, Sotheby's sold costume designs for the ballet 'Les Roses' at £6,300, Swann realised $6,250 for a 1929 Yorkshire Coast poster, and Leonard Joel achieved AUD $8,000 for the watercolour 'Up the Rope Ladder'. Circus, ballet, and theatre subjects consistently attract the strongest bidding, which aligns with Knight's established reputation in those genres. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily would use these auction records as a comparable-sales baseline, cross-referenced against the specific work's medium, dimensions, signature, condition, provenance, edition details (for prints), and exhibition or publication history. The wide price dispersion—£60 to £17,500—means that medium and scale are primary value drivers: a pencil-signed etching in an edition of 35 will fall in a very different range from a major oil on canvas. Attribution confidence matters because several recent lots are marked 'attributed to' or 'after' Laura Knight, and works without secure provenance or catalogue raisonné reference should be flagged. For prints, edition size, plate tone, and margin condition are material factors. For oils and watercolours, period of execution—Staithes, Cornwall/Lamorna, or wartime—can materially affect value. Appraisily would supplement these auction comparables with specialist consultation where attribution is uncertain, particularly given that no catalogue raisonné was cited in the source pack. ### Valuation factors - Medium and scale — major oils and large watercolours command significantly higher values than prints, drawings, or posters - Subject matter — circus, ballet, and theatre scenes are the most commercially sought-after genre - Period of execution — Staithes (c. 1900s–1910s), Cornwall/Lamorna (c. 1907–1919), and wartime works carry premium significance - Print edition specifics — edition size, plate tone, margin condition, and pencil signature presence materially affect value for etchings and drypoints - Attribution confidence — works described as 'attributed to' or 'after' Laura Knight trade at a discount; secure provenance or RKD/catalogue references support stronger valuations - Provenance and exhibition history — documented gallery or museum exhibition records increase confidence and price - Condition — for works on paper (the majority of traded lots), foxing, fading, acid burn, and mounting quality are critical - Auction-house tier — results from Christie's, Sotheby's, and Swann tend to realise higher prices than regional UK salerooms, reflecting buyer confidence and catalogue standards ### Collector notes ### Market caveats - No catalogue raisonné was cited in the source pack; authoritative dating and attribution of uncatalogued works require specialist consultation. - Prints and editioned etchings account for a large share of transaction volume, which can skew perceived market averages downward relative to the values achieved by major oils and watercolours. - Several recent lots were catalogued as 'attributed to' or 'after' Laura Knight; these are not securely attributed and should not be used as direct comparables for confidently attributed works. - Prices span multiple currencies (GBP, USD, AUD, EUR) and were recorded over a 20-year window; direct comparison requires currency and time adjustment. - The maximum recorded price (£17,500) is a significant outlier above the 75th percentile (£938); the median is a more representative benchmark for typical works. - Knight's career exceeded sixty years with broad stylistic range; works from different periods may vary considerably in market value and collector interest. ### Market evidence sources - Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/laura-knight/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - Invaluable / Dreweatts 1759 Fine Sales: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-dame-laura-knight-british-1877-1970-circus-serving-dish-with-lid-designed-1934-378-c-e6f96cfff9 - Invaluable / Turner Auctions + Appraisals: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-laura-knight-1877-1970-etching-71-c-4efff4c3e6 - Invaluable / John Nicholson's Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-laura-knight-1877-1970-circus-clown-and-acrobat-rider-etching-signed-in-pencil-25-5-x-12-5cm-61-c-04eaa7d3f2 - Invaluable / Mallams: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-laura-knight-1877-1970-carting-corn-pencil-signed-and-titled-to-the-margin-drypoint-20-x-31cm-unframed-27-c-4e54934a06 - Invaluable / Toomey & Co. Auctioneers: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-laura-knight-a-circus-dressing-room-199-c-12fe51dba7 - Invaluable / Kaminski Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-laura-knight-nude-oil-on-canvas-board-165-c-b4449109da - Invaluable / Hill Auction Gallery: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-pastel-on-paper-woman-portrait-after-laura-knight-398-c-2424427961 - Invaluable / Kinghams Auctioneers: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-laura-knight-a-book-of-drawings-1923-418-c-9f94acbb17 ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum, library-authority, and encyclopedia sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Laura Knight, identity data is grounded in the Library of Congress, VIAF, RKD, Tate, and Wikidata authority records. ## Sources - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85225095 - RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/45040 - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/24706017/ - Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/dame-laura-knight-1424 - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2693890 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Knight