Study: A Balloon Site, Coventry (III) by Dame Laura Knight, graphite on paper

Dame Laura Knight’s study is part of a body of expressive drawings that explored the barrage balloon. She made these in preparation for a painting commissioned by the War Office to promote the recruitment of female operators for RAF Balloon Command - 'A Balloon Site: Coventry' (1942, Imperial War Museums).

By the Second World War, Knight was a mature, well-established artist and the first fully-elected female Royal Academician since the 18th century. As one of few women to receive official commissions, she pursued numerous short-term projects. Coventry was devastated by Blitz raids, and barrage balloons were integral to defending remaining sites against attack. Knight particularly enjoyed the challenge of drawing the strange spectacle of balloons, describing the object as ‘a living thing’ manoeuvred by female operators ‘like ants with an egg’. Bequest of the artist, 1974. Copyright: the artist's estate and Bridgeman Images / RAF Museum