British artist Laura Knight’s title uses “Romany,” a period term, yet the painting’s power lies in how two women meet the world on their own terms. Their expressions resist being turned into spectacle by being steadfast, guarded, and self-possessed while a busy background hints at how often Romani people were made visible only as “attraction.” Painted in the late 1930s, the work fits Knight’s long commitment to depicting working lives and communities pushed to the margins, with a directness shaped by her groundbreaking career (she became the first woman elected a full Royal Academician in 1936). Here, color and brisk brushwork create immediacy, but an emotional center is the shared stance for a quiet solidarity that is both protection and pride. Two young women stand close together outdoors, shown from the waist up at nearly life-size. Both have light-to-medium skin tones flushed by wind and sun, dark brows, and tired, watchful eyes. They wear bright, layered clothing of patterned shawls and headscarves tied over wavy hair, a yellow scarf and floral jacket on the woman at right, and a red scarf and warm copper-toned wrap on the woman at left. The woman on the right braces her arm against a dark post at the picture’s edge, as if holding their place. Behind them, pale tents, small crowds, parked cars, and a broad green field suggest a fairground, softened by distance and haze. By the time she painted “Romany Belles,” Dame Laura Knight was at the height of her public standing: knighted as a Dame in 1929, elected to the Royal Academy in 1936, and already widely celebrated for making ambitious figurative paintings in worlds often dismissed as “backstage” or “on the margins” like theatre and ballet dressing rooms, circus life, and working communities. In her early sixties, she brought to such subjects a practiced blend of realism and impressionistic speed, insisting that ordinary people deserved the same scale, presence, and painterly seriousness as society portraiture.

“Romany Belles” by Laura Knight (British) - Oil on canvas / c. 1938 - Aberdeen Art Gallery (Aberdeen, Scotland) #WomenInArt #LauraKnight #Knight #art #artText #BlueskyArt #AberdeenArtGallery #AAGM #PortraitofaWoman #arte #1930s #RomaniWomen #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #WomenPaintingWomen

This oil painting by South African artist Alfred Neville Lewis was purchased by the Aberdeen Art Gallery in 1938, but its date of creation is unknown. The woman depicted is presumably from the Pondo region, or amaPondo region on the South East coast of South Africa whose people speak Xhosa. A beautiful young, dark-skinned woman with a serious expression, adorned with turquoise bead necklaces and a dark head wrap that covers most of her black hair, is portrayed in a close-up oil painting set against a backdrop of lush green foliage. Her skin tones are rich and varied, ranging from deep browns to warmer reddish-browns, highlighting the contours of her face. We don’t know much on this unidentified woman and her life’s story. We also don’t know about the context in which this portrait was undertaken. Did Lewis pay for her time sitting for this portrait in a studio? Did he sketch her to later return to paint? We simply don’t know. We do know a portrait by Lewis was destroyed during a demonstration as part of the 2015 "Rhodes Must Fall" movement in South Africa, originally directed against a statue at the University of Cape Town (UCT) of former South African prime minister Cecil Rhodes. The campaign captured national headlines and led to a wider movement to "decolonize" education across South Africa which inspired allied student movements at other universities, both within South Africa and elsewhere in the world. Lewis divided his life between South Africa and England. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and then served during World War I. He was a prolific exhibitor, being a member of the New English Art Club, National Society of Painters, and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. He had his first solo show at Carfax Gallery in 1920. During World War II, he was an Official War Artist with the South African forces. His work, notable for portraits and figure studies, is held in several public collections including the Tate Gallery in London.

"Pondo Woman" by Neville Lewis (South African) - Oil on board / Unknown date (before 1938) - Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums (South Africa) #WomenInArt #art #PortraitofaWoman #SouthAfricanArtist #SouthAfricanArt #AlfredNevilleLewis #NevilleLewis #WomensArt #OilPainting #AAGM #AberdeenArtGallery