Women of Black Mountain College | Gwendolyn Knight

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Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence at Black Mountain College, summer 1946. Photograph by Bacia Stepner. Courtesy Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina.

This week in our #WomenOfBMC series, we’re spotlighting artist Gwendolyn Knight (1913-2005), who came to Black Mountain College in 1946 with her husband Jacob Lawrence. Not officially a teacher, she spent lots of time engaging with students, even teaching informal dance lessons. She would go on to study dance in New York with Martha Graham’s company in the 1950s. An expressionist painter with a strong interest in people, her vibrant paintings are often portraits and images of dancing figures.

Knight painted throughout her life, but only started exhibiting in the 1970s. Head to our blog to read more about her life, from Barbados to Missouri, Harlem to Black Mountain and beyond. Her paintings have often been regarded as ‘companion pieces’ to Lawrence’s, when in fact they maintained distinct artistic styles despite a strong intellectual bond. 

Images: Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence at Black Mountain College, summer 1946. Photograph by Bacia Stepner. Courtesy Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina.