Laura and Harold Knight first visited the Malvern Hills in 1933 and moved there permanently after Laura had finished painting the Nuremberg War Trails in 1946. The Knight's lived in Malvern until Harold's death in 1961. Laura painted a striking series of panoramic landscapes of the surrounding hills in all seasons. The present work shows the sweeping view from the top of Sugarloaf Hill, just outside the town of Great Malvern, looking west towards Herefordshire. The grand house pictured is St James's Hall, the former residence of the Howard de Walden family. In 1902 the house became a girl's school known as St James's College.

Dame Laura Knight (née Johnson; 4 August 1877 - 7 July 1970) was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressionism. In her long career, Knight was among the most successful and popular painters in Britain. Her success in the male-dominated British art establishment paved the way for greater status and recognition for women artists.

In 1929 she was created a Dame, and in 1936 became the second woman elected to full membership of the Royal Academy. Her large retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1965 was the first for a woman. Knight was known for painting amidst the world of the theatre and ballet in London, and for being a war artist during the Second World War. She was also greatly interested in, and inspired by, marginalised communities and individuals, including Romani people and circus performers.