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Lot Essay
In the late Edwardian summers of 1908 to 1911 Munnings went on extended painting expeditions from his home at Swainsthorpe, Norfolk, to the nearby Ringland Hills, making his headquarters at The Falcon Inn at Costessey. These expeditions held a special place in his heart and produced some of his most important early works. In his autobiography he looked back fondly when describing the bucolic world he encountered. 'Ringland and Costessey, on the west side of Norwich are situated in one of the loveliest districts of all the pleasant country surrounding that old city. Although only six to eight miles away, with little perceptible variation, their serenity was unbroken, their peace continuous and unalloyed, the inhabitants living on in the same unaltered ways of life, toiling and resting, their quietude as yet undisturbed by motor horn or sound of tractor' (A. J. Munnings, An Artist's Life, Bungay, 1950, p. 208).
Early success at the Royal Academy and sales to local collectors gave Munnings the funds to buy supplies from his trusted horse dealer and fixer, and he records in his autobiography that he was '..dependent on Drake to supply ponies, horses and figures. I was full of resolutions, boiling over, impatient to begin straight away.. ..making pictures out-of-doors, in the right environment, with the models I needed’ (op.cit., p. 211).
The gypsy way of life which Munnings observed, and to some extent adopted, during the summer months was a subject close to his heart. He had known and seen gypsy encampments from an early age just outside his native village of Mendham and the subject remained a strong component of his visual vocabulary throughout his career. In later years Munnings's gypsy compositions, many painted in Hampshire, came to epitomise a way of life that was increasingly under threat and which the artist strove to record. The subject also became a frequent theme for other painters, such as Dame Laura Knight and Augustus John. Munnings's fascination with this subject culminated in a highly acclaimed exhibition at James Connell, London, in 1920. When reviewing the show Paul Konody (art critic for the Observer and the Daily Mail), proclaimed that Munnings was, 'The most English of all living painters ... He is a lover of open-air life. His farmers, hop pickers, gypsies, tinkers, vagabonds ... who spend the best part of their lives under the dome of heaven, among fields and hedgerows - are not merely chosen by him for their picturesque appearance, but because his sympathies go out to them. Whatever he paints is deeply felt, and every stoke of his brush is inspired by his depth of feeling, which is of the very essence of significant art'.
We are grateful to the curatorial staff at The Munnings Art Museum for their assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
The work will be included in Lorian Peralta-Ramos's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Sir Alfred Munnings.
Early success at the Royal Academy and sales to local collectors gave Munnings the funds to buy supplies from his trusted horse dealer and fixer, and he records in his autobiography that he was '..dependent on Drake to supply ponies, horses and figures. I was full of resolutions, boiling over, impatient to begin straight away.. ..making pictures out-of-doors, in the right environment, with the models I needed’ (op.cit., p. 211).
The gypsy way of life which Munnings observed, and to some extent adopted, during the summer months was a subject close to his heart. He had known and seen gypsy encampments from an early age just outside his native village of Mendham and the subject remained a strong component of his visual vocabulary throughout his career. In later years Munnings's gypsy compositions, many painted in Hampshire, came to epitomise a way of life that was increasingly under threat and which the artist strove to record. The subject also became a frequent theme for other painters, such as Dame Laura Knight and Augustus John. Munnings's fascination with this subject culminated in a highly acclaimed exhibition at James Connell, London, in 1920. When reviewing the show Paul Konody (art critic for the Observer and the Daily Mail), proclaimed that Munnings was, 'The most English of all living painters ... He is a lover of open-air life. His farmers, hop pickers, gypsies, tinkers, vagabonds ... who spend the best part of their lives under the dome of heaven, among fields and hedgerows - are not merely chosen by him for their picturesque appearance, but because his sympathies go out to them. Whatever he paints is deeply felt, and every stoke of his brush is inspired by his depth of feeling, which is of the very essence of significant art'.
We are grateful to the curatorial staff at The Munnings Art Museum for their assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
The work will be included in Lorian Peralta-Ramos's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Sir Alfred Munnings.