Description

Charles Knight R.W.S
The Radcliffe Camera from All Soul’s, Oxford Almanack

Lithograph
75 x 40 cm
1950

A lithograph of Magdalen College, Oxford, based on a watercolour by Charles Knight R.W.S.

Knight’s watercolour was reproduced as a lithograph in 1958, to be published in the “Oxford Almanack”. The Oxford Almanack was an annual almanac published by the Oxford University Press for the University of Oxford from 1674 through 2019 (when printing sadly ceased due to “dwindling interest”). The almanac traditionally included engravings or lithographs of the University and information about the upcoming year. Other almanac artists have included James Basire, Michael Burghers, J. M. W. Turner, and Michael Oelman.

Charles Knight R.W.S. (1901–1990) was a distinguished British painter and member of the Royal Watercolour Society, renowned for his luminous landscapes, coastal scenes, and architectural subjects. Trained at the Slade School of Fine Art, Knight developed a refined technique marked by clarity, balance, and a keen sensitivity to light and atmosphere. His watercolours captured the quiet beauty of the British countryside and urban settings with subtle elegance. A respected figure in 20th-century British art, Knight exhibited widely throughout his career, earning acclaim for his mastery of the watercolour medium and his enduring contribution to the tradition of British landscape painting. His works are in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, the Royal Watercolour Society, Towner Eastbourne and the University of Brighton.