York Art Gallery has acquired a new artwork by notable British artist Dame Laura Knight DBE RA RWS, thanks to the generosity of the Friends of York Art Gallery. The oil painting ‘Early Morning in a Gypsy Camp’, 1953, is now on public display in the Burton Gallery as part of the permanent collection. Go to the Gallery website for more information about the painting and the artist.

Charles Martindale, current Chair of the Friends of York Art Gallery, said: “The purchase of Laura Knight’s Early Morning in a Gypsy Camp is our most highly priced such gift to the Gallery to date, obtained wholly through a legacy generously left us by Dr Dennis Bearpark, Consultant Psychiatrist at The Retreat in York, who for many years was a member of the Friends Committee. The Gallery’s collection contains few paintings by leading women artists, and Dame Laura Knight was certainly the most successful British woman painter of the last century, as well as the first to be elected a full member of the Royal Academy. This is a splendid example of her work, which, since its sale in 1953, has been in a private collection out of the public eye. Its accession to the collection is a moment for great celebration.”

‘Early Morning in a Gypsy Camp’ by Dame Laura Knight is now on display at York Art Gallery. General admission to York Art Gallery is free, but pre-booking is advised. To book go to: www.yorkartgallery.org.uk

Peter Miller (President of the Friends) and Charles Martindale (Chair), pictured with the new acquisition Early Morning in a Gypsy Camp by Dame Laura Knight
Artwork © Estate of Dame Laura Knight. All rights reserved 2022 / Bridgeman Images. Photo by Anthony Chappel-Ross.