Sir Alfred Munnings

Alfred Munnings was born at Mendham, Suffolk across the River Waveney from Harleston in Norfolk, in 1878. When he turned 14 years old, he became the apprentice of a Norwich (which is a very lovely place, I visited there) printer, and his tasks included the designing and drawing of advertising posters for approximately 6 years. During this time, he was also attending the Norwich School of Art. After his apprenticeship was over, he became a full time painter as his heart was by then completely captured by painting. One of his favorite topics was rural landscapes, but he also enjoyed painting horses.

Some of his racing and hunting scenes are among the best ever made by Artists. He painted real life moments. He became the President of the Royal Academy, a post he held between 1944-51. He advocated fiercely against the emerging trends of modern Art. His famous departing speech which he gave in 1949 went into Art history as an attack on modernism (according to contemporary accounts, he may have been tipsy at the time). The broadcast was heard by millions of listeners to BBC radio. Munnings who was apparently drunk, said in that speech that Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso had corrupted Art. He also mentioned that Sir Winston Churchill had once said to him, "Alfred, if you met Picasso coming down the street would you join with me in kicking his (word omitted)?" to which Munnings allegedly replied, "Yes Sir, I would".

He was knighted in 1944. He died at Castle House, Dedham, Essex, in 1959. The village pub in Mendham is named after this artist. His home Castle House, depicted in the picture below, was set up as a tribute to his Art by his wife, Lady Munnings, after his death, and it is a well visited museum today.

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National Gallery of Australia, Canberra:
A study of a male nude in Julian's atelier, Paris, ca.1902

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia:
A Selworthy landscape

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia:
A Canadian soldier, 1918

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia;
The Master of the hounds

Christchurch Mansion, Suffolk, UK:
Travellers

National Museums Liverpool, UK:
The Friesian Bull

Tyne & Wear Museums, England:
Going to the Meet, 1913

Besides the above, there are painting of his in the possession of the following Museums and Galleries:

National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; Norwich Museums, England;
Tate Gallery, London, UK; Denver Art Museum, Berger Collection, Colorado, USA; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia:
2 paintings online; Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, UK;
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

CROSSING THE FORD



THE MORNING RIDE



THE POLO PLAYER



WATERING AT OLD COSTESSY



ZENMOR HILL CORNWALL

A FOX FOR A HUNDRED



A POINT-TO-POINT RIDER



AUTUMN AFTERNOON



BAGSWORTHY WATER AT CLOUD

BERYL RILEY SMITH ON SNOWFLAKE



COMING THROUGH THE GAP



THE BELVOIR HUNT NEAR BELVOIR CASTLE



A COURTSHIP



A BAY HUNTER IN A STABLE

Munnings' popular sporting Art enjoyed popularity in the USA as well as the United Kingdom and worldwide. Represented by agents Frost & Reed of London while in his life-time, Munnings' works were sold to some of the wealthiest Art collectors across the Globe.

The highest price to date (January 2007) of a Munnings painting was from a work held by The Greentree Foundation (the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney) at Sotheby's in New York City May 5, 2004. Lot 30, "The Red Prince Mare," sold for $7,848,000, far above his previous auction record of $4,292,500 set at Christie's in December, 1999. It was one of four works by Munnings in the auction. "The Red Prince Mare" is a 40-by-60-inch oil on canvas that was executed in 1921 and had an estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000.