Sir Alfred James Munnings (British, 1879 to 1959)
By 1913, Munnings had moved to Lamorna in Cornwall and had become a central character in the renowned artistic colony which orbited around the Newlyn School led by Stanhope Forbes. In addition to painting and a very busy social life, Munnings would frequently hunt with the Western Hounds based at Madron. In his autobiography, the artist reminisced about the “wild, almost treeless” landscape which was so different from the artist’s native Suffolk. “Being in granite country, where the soil was shallow, huge masses of stone were built into walls; every wall on each side of every lane consisted of huge slabs of split granite …In fact, this was the most picturesque and primitive place.” (A.J. Munnings, An Artist’s Life, Bungay, 1950, p. 271).
One of his most famous portraits being “Going to the Meet” (Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne) which has been reproduced often in literature and as a print. Interestingly, Munnings is one of the few artists who was as proficient in watercolor or gouache as in oil. He wrote about the medium in an article for the Old Water-Colour Society Club in 1932 “So without a doubt, water-colour is so fascinating although so difficult and yet easier than oils, The difficulty for me of water-colour is the state; getting out of the box and cleaning it up and finding which colours are hardened” stretching the thick paper , that is when you have found (good) paper…you become lost, oblivious…..and so water-colour sketch goes on and is suggested, to my mind a better word than finished.” He painted numerous watercolors during this period. “Being a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, my six works sent there each year were sold, not for startling sums, but the prices were welcome enough at the time. Thus I was well able to afford to keep models and go hunting on them at the same time.” (ibid. p. 278). We (Barridoff’s) would like to thank Andrew C. Rose for his assistance in writing the catalogue entry above.
Information courtesy of Barridoff’s Galleries, August, 2008.
Sir Alfred James Munnings, with George Stubbs, is one of the two greatest masters of sporting art. He was British born and became president of the Royal Academy. The majority of his work depicts horse racing and fox hunting and a few carriage scenes.
Information courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions Inc., June 2007.