Early Life and Artistic Training
Winifred Knights was born in London, United Kingdom. The eldest of four children, she was the daughter of Mabel, a former theatrical singer and embroiderer, and Walter, the secretary of a sugar plantation company. Her artistic talent was evident early on; while attending James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich, she won both gold and silver medals with the Royal Drawing Society in 1915.
She pursued formal training at the Slade School of Fine Art between 1915 and 1917, and again from 1918 to 1920, studying under Henry Tonks and Fred Brown. During World War One, she witnessed the Silvertown explosion in January 1917, an event that led to a break in her studies. During this time, she took refuge at her father's cousins' farm in Worcestershire, which became the subject of her 1918 painting The Potato Harvest.
Career and Major Works
Knights achieved significant recognition when she became the first woman in England to win the Scholarship in Decorative Painting awarded by the British School at Rome. Her winning entry was the painting The Deluge. Following this, she moved to Italy, living at Anticoli Corrado, a village south of Rome, where she remained until 1925.
Her notable works include:
In 1924, she married Thomas Monnington. Her work often featured a distinctive dress, a stylised version of nineteenth century Italian peasant costume consisting of a loose ankle-length skirt, a plain buttoned blouse, a wide brimmed black hat, and coral jewelry. Knights died in London from a brain tumour.
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