Dame Laura Knight, was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint.  In her long career, Knight was among the most successful and popular painters in Britain. Her success in the male-dominated British art establishment paved the way for greater status and recognition for women artists. In 1929 she was created a Dame and in 1936 became the first woman elected to full membership of the Royal Academy. Her large retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1965 was the first for a woman.