Art lovers head for Colwall talk

9:10am Wednesday 2nd July 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

MORE than 200 art lovers crowded into Colwall Village Hall to hear a talk about a painter who lived in the area for many years.

The meeting was organised by the Friends of Dame Laura Knight Society, which wants to revive interest in the artist and her work locally.

Among those at the meeting last Wednesday (June 25) were some who could personally recall the time when Dame Laura Knight lived in the area.

The speaker was the artist's great-nephew, John Croft, an internationally-recognised expert on her work and chair of the trustees of her estate.

Dame Laura Knight was the first woman Royal Academician, first woman artist recognised with a DBE, the only woman to be commissioned as a war artist in both world wars: after World War II she was an artist at the Nuremberg Trials.

After getting to know Barry Jackson, founder of the Malvern Festival, she and her husband spent a lot of time in the area from the 1920s up to the 1960s.

The lived in local hotels such as the Unicorn, Brirish Camp and Colwall Park, and got to know the area very well.

As part of his talk, Mr Croft concentrated on her local paintings, and invited residents to help him identify places and people in them.

Heather Whatley, of the Friends, said she was delighted with the turn-out for the meeting.

"It's a great shame that there's nothing to commemorate Dame Laura in Malvern, such as a blue plaque, or a street named after her," she said.

"It's very encouraging that so many people are still interested in her, and I hope we will be able to enhance her profile. An event about Dame Laura is already being planned for this year's Autumn in Malvern festival."