In November of 1907, Laura Knight and her artist husband, Harold, moved to Newlyn in Cornwall to join the colony of plein air painters living there. It was during these early years that the artist produced some of her most beguiling works depicting children playing in the Cornish sunshine, often beside the beach.

‘Low Tide, Cornwall’ belongs to a small group of celebrated works from the period, which include two of her most famous paintings, 'The Beach’ from 1909 (Laing Art Gallery) and ‘Flying a Kite’ from 1910 (National Gallery, Cape Town).

This group of paintings share a similar compositional device, which the artist was to make her own, of careful, insightful observation of children as they play together, set against a shimmering and dramatic landscape. It was from these idyllic works, painted in Cornwall prior to 1914, that Laura Knight established her reputation as one of Britain’s finest impressionist painters, and in recent years, one of the most sought after.