Jennie Lea Knight (American, 1933-2007), Origin of the Roc

Mixed media on canvas, 1961, signed and dated to the verso, presented in a gilt floater frame.

Stretcher size 12 1/4 x 10 in.; Frame dimensions 13 1/4 x 11 1/2 in.

From the Collection of a Lady, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

A native of Washington, DC, Knight was an artist and, later in her career, a sculptor. She taught at the Corcoran School of Art. In 1972, she served as chief of installation of the American Pavillion at the Venice Biennale; the following year, a studio fire destroyed much of her work. Four of her original works are owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum; copies of some are owned by the National Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection. Two of her sculptures were obtained by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, in Washington, DC and a drawing was accessioned by the Katzen Arts Center at American University.

Age cracking to the paint, a few scattered losses.