The Laura Knight exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery includes four pictures of special interest to ballet fans. Firstly, there are the two portraits of Barbara Bonner, one of which seems to be a study for the other, that was commissioned by Earl Hoover, who chose her to be the model. Although the final portrait is “staged”, in that the dancer is shown with a dresser who was actually Knight’s dressmaker, it is interesting not only because the artist (or possibly the patron) has chosen to show the dancer backstage, but also because Bonner is presented as such a strong and meditative figure; this is no wafer-thin dreamy sylph, but a muscular and thoughtful woman. (more…)
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