William Henry Knight

William Henry Knight (26 September 1823-1863) was an English painter. He was born at Newbury, Berkshire where his father was a schoolmaster. He was to become a solicitor, but gave up his law studies and became a portrait painter in London after two of his paintings were accepted by the annual exhibition of the Society of Artists. Following in the footsteps of William Mulready [Harvnb|Cowling|2000|p=15] , he became a genre painter, his street scenes and interior scenes often showing children at play. His paintings were shown at the Royal Academy between 1846 (with "Boys playing draughts") and 1862. He was quite successful and many engravings were made from his works.

Art

In his 1855 "Academy notes", John Ruskin wrote about "The broken window": "This picture does not catch the eye at a distance, but, on looking close, there will be found exquisite and careful painting in it.". [Harvnb|Ruskin|1855|p=22]

Paintings

*"Boys playing draughts", 1846.
*"Time for play", 1853.
*"The broken window; Who threw the stone?", 1855.
*"Hide and seek", 1860.
*"The game of marbles", 1861.

Notes

Bibliography

*citation|last=Cowling|first=Mary|title= Victorian Figurative Painting: Domestic Life and the Contemporary Social Scene|place= London|publisher= Papadakis|year= 2000|isbn= 1901092321.
*citation|last=Ruskin|first=John|title= Notes on Some of the Principal Pictures Exhibited in the Rooms of the Royal Academy|place= London|publisher=Smith, Elder|year= 1855.