From Victorian to Modern: Laura Knight, Vanessa Bell, Gwen John 1890-1920

The book examines the impact of modernism on the work of three women artists -- Laura Knight (b.1877), Vanessa Bell (b.1879) and Gwen John (b.1876) -- whose training and early artistic careers were rooted in the Victorian tradition. The book examines and compares their development, their work and the positions they took in the crucial years of their careers between 1890 and 1920. The book illuminates women's participation in the important question of how British art negotiated the challenges posed by post-impressionism, abstraction, significant form and the demise of narrative and anecdote at the beginning of the twentieth century.