Ruby Loftus

 'Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring' by Dame Laura Knight, 1943

Following in the vein of the previous post, here's a painting you may already recognise, this time from the Second World War.

Ruby Loftus was a worker in a Newport armaments factory who, at 21, came to public attention as an 'exceptional factory worker'. Ruby was able to turn gun parts on a lathe accurately and faster than any other man or woman set to the same task. Laura Knight, in her capacity as a war artist of the Second World War, was commissioned to meet and paint Ruby in action. The resulting work has become one of the most famous paintings of the period symbolising the part female factory workers played in the war.





Comments

What I like about the painting is that there's no glamour to Ruby, which is how it should be in a realistic workplace portrait like this. You definately get the impression that she is a strong hardworking woman.
Murgatroyd said…
I agree. I love the colours in this painting too...