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Lot Essay
'Suffice it to say Sir Alfred arrived early enough to be the last "laureate" of the horse; for I doubt if horses can ever again be painted as he has done them. In certain picturesque aspects they have ceased to exist. The first quarter of this century left things much as they were, and it was during these years that Alfred Munnings founded his style upon a sentiment that had not changed throughout the centuries' (see A. Bury, Sir Alfred Munnings retrospective, Catalogue for the exhibition at the Russell Coates Gallery, Bournemouth, 1955, foreword).
Baron Raoul von Schroeders was captain of the National Chilean polo team, when he commissioned Alfred Munnings to paint an equestrian portrait of his son, Arturo. In his autobiography, Munnings describes the present work: 'And how, you may ask, did I get to Deauville? I was staying at the Normandie Hotel with a Baron Schroeders, painting his boy on a polo pony. The father played polo everywhere, and 'followed the sun', as he said' (see A.J. Munnings, loc. cit.). Polo subjects were relatively unusual in the artist's repertoire; only a handful of paintings of this subject exist, including those for important patrons such as Devereaux Milburn; Robert Strawbridge; and the Riley-Smiths.
The present branch of the Schroeders family, from Courland in Russia, moved to Chile during the eighteenth century. One forebear of the patron of the present painting had been appointed as the first Russian consul to Santiago. The young Arturo was to become very committed to winter sports, being an active member of the International Ski Federation (I.S.F.) and contributed in a decisive way to the choice of Grenoble as the location for the 1968 Winter Olympic games. Two years earlier, he had organized the world skiing championships at Portillo in Chile.
The present composition and the study (the following lot in this sale) have never been exhibited and have remained in the possession of the family of the sitter since they were painted. Interestingly, although the painting was commissioned in Deauville, Munnings has incorporated the background of Dedham Vale as a backdrop to the composition. The Old Oak (Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth) which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1927 is an example of another work which shares the background of Dedham Vale with Dedham church visible in the distance. Specific compositional devices such as this were to become an important feature of Munnings' work from this point onwards.
Baron Raoul von Schroeders was captain of the National Chilean polo team, when he commissioned Alfred Munnings to paint an equestrian portrait of his son, Arturo. In his autobiography, Munnings describes the present work: 'And how, you may ask, did I get to Deauville? I was staying at the Normandie Hotel with a Baron Schroeders, painting his boy on a polo pony. The father played polo everywhere, and 'followed the sun', as he said' (see A.J. Munnings, loc. cit.). Polo subjects were relatively unusual in the artist's repertoire; only a handful of paintings of this subject exist, including those for important patrons such as Devereaux Milburn; Robert Strawbridge; and the Riley-Smiths.
The present branch of the Schroeders family, from Courland in Russia, moved to Chile during the eighteenth century. One forebear of the patron of the present painting had been appointed as the first Russian consul to Santiago. The young Arturo was to become very committed to winter sports, being an active member of the International Ski Federation (I.S.F.) and contributed in a decisive way to the choice of Grenoble as the location for the 1968 Winter Olympic games. Two years earlier, he had organized the world skiing championships at Portillo in Chile.
The present composition and the study (the following lot in this sale) have never been exhibited and have remained in the possession of the family of the sitter since they were painted. Interestingly, although the painting was commissioned in Deauville, Munnings has incorporated the background of Dedham Vale as a backdrop to the composition. The Old Oak (Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth) which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1927 is an example of another work which shares the background of Dedham Vale with Dedham church visible in the distance. Specific compositional devices such as this were to become an important feature of Munnings' work from this point onwards.