Son of a Miller to
President of the Royal Academy
Overview
The enduring reputation of Sir Alfred Munnings is epitomised by his exquisite, but often critically dismissed, depictions of horses and his vociferous though vigorously supported, objections to Modern Art. What remains undeniable is that Alfred Munnings was born the son of a Suffolk miller and rose, through sheer hard work, to become President of the Royal Academy of Arts and a Knight of the Realm.
Born in rural Victorian Britain, taking evening classes at a provincial art school, Munnings fought through the adversity of losing the sight in one eye at the age of twenty-one to become one of Britain’s leading cultural figures by the end of the Second World War; an appointment which undoubtably brought him scrutiny and personal criticism.
As a young artist Munnings lived amongst the rural workers and Romany Gypsies of Suffolk. Many of them are immortalised in his early en plein air paintings at the beginning of the twentieth century. Following his success as a commissioned artist during the First World War his social circles widened throughout the 1920s to encompass men and women of standing. He was part of Sir Winston Churchill’s Other Club, lifelong friends with the artist Dame Laura Knight and Poet Laureate John Masefield amongst others.
Alfred Munnings exhibited three hundred paintings at the Royal Academy over a six decade career. This included pictures commissioned by wealthy patrons and members of the Royal Family; his first royal portrait being the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, and his last being Queen Elizabeth II with her racehorse Aureole. Munnings had a number of high profile one man shows and was honoured with retrospectives in Norwich in 1928, Bournemouth in 1955 and at the Royal Academy in 1956.
Timeline
1878 Alfred James Munnings born 8th October at Mendham Mill on the Suffolk/Norfolk border. He is the second of four sons born to John and Ellen Munnings.
1885-1886 Drew first pictures inspired by the Jovial Huntsmen after Caldecott. Starts drawing lessons at the vicarage under Miss Kate Brereton. His first picture sale is a pencil drawing of a tracehorse to Mr Sewell for five shillings.
1891 Sent to board at Framlingham College, Suffolk.
1892 Begins six-year apprenticeship with Page Bros., lithographic printers, in Norwich. Caley’s (pulling) Crackers a major client. Attends classes at the Norwich School of Art in the evenings.
1897 Joins Norwich Art Circle, possibly encouraged to do so by Gertrude Offord, his watercolour tutor. Painting romantic scenes, in sepia or black and white watercolour, inspired by literature and the past particularly costumed figures from the Georgian period.
1898 His first commission from John Shaw Tomkins, a Director of Caley’s, to paint a portrait of Daniel Tomkins and his Dog.
1899 Blinded in his right eye by a bramble, just before his 21st birthday. First paintings accepted at the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours. First two paintings accepted at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, Stranded (Bristol Museum and Art Gallery) and Pike Fishing in January
1899-1906 Returns to Mendham and sets up studio in an old carpenter’s shop. Painting en plein air. Subjects include river landscapes, country fairs, horses and hunting, local villagers and gypsies, especially the Gray family, Nobby, Charlotte and Fred.
1903 Attends the Academie Julian in Paris for the first time. Spends several weeks painting from life.
1907-1911 Sets up a new studio at Swainsthorpe, Norfolk, and paints ponies is gravel pits and amongst the Ringland Hills. Buys a Gypsy caravan, cart and band of ponies. Grooms George Curzon and Bob pose as models. Meets Fountain George Page, known as Shrimp, who becomes one of his favourite models.
1908 Buys a little white pony and names him Augereau. The pony appears first in Path to the Orchard and then in subsequent paintings and becomes a favourite model.
1911 Moves to Cornwall and sets up studio and stables in Lamorna.
Painting with Newlyn School of artists including Laura Knight, who becomes a life-long friend, Harold Knight, Samuel ‘Lamorna’
Birch, Stanhope Forbes.
1912 Marries Edith Florence Carter-Wood, an artist, and also from a wealthy family.
1913 Has first one-man show at the Leicester Galleries in London. Sells paintings to the equivalent of £100,000 in six weeks. Travels to Ireland to buy horses.
1914 His Father dies in March. Florence takes her own life on 24th July. First World War declared 28th July. Attempts to enlist on three separate occasions but turned down due to his blind right eye and age. Painting hop-pickers, Romany Gypsies, in Alton, Hampshire.
1917 Began working at an Army Remount Centre in Calcot Park, Reading, looking after horses.
1918 Commissioned by Paul Konody to paint Canadian Cavalry Brigade in France. Significantly, includes a portrait of General Jack Seely on his horse Warrior. Returns to London, rents studio in Glebe Place from November.
1919 Exhibits paintings at Royal Academy Canadian War Records exhibition on in January, to much acclaim. Made an Associate Member of the Royal Academy.
1919 Sale of pre-war Cornwall works at Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and at James Connell & Sons Bond Street Gallery enables purchase of Castle House, Dedham for £1,800. Meets Violet McBride at the Richmond Horse show in July.
1919 continued First sculpture commission for a bronze memorial to Lieutenant Edward Horner, for his mother Lady Horner, Mells, Somerset. First thoroughbred racehorse commission to paint the Grand National Winner, Poethlyn, for his owners, Mr and Mrs Peel.
1920 Marries Violet in March. She has society contacts and manages his commissions. She said: “he was never such a good artist after he married me.” as he had to paint commissions to pay the bills. London exhibition at James Connell and Sons: Paintings by A.J. Munnings, Gypsies in Hampshire.
1921 Exhibition at the Alpine Club Gallery, Pictures of the Belvoir Hunt and other Scenes of English Life. Frost & Reed start publishing prints of Munnings’ work.
1924 Travels to America for a six-month trip beginning by serving as a judge for the 23rd Annual International Exhibition at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh.
1925 Paints the Royal Procession to Ascot as a commission for Queen Mary.
The State Procession to Ascot, 1925, by Sir Alfred Munnings, Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2025 Royal Collection Trust
1926 Elected Full Member of Royal Academy, celebrates by travelling to Spain. Visits museums, sees work of a favourite painter, Diego Velazquez.
1927 The first book celebrating Munnings’ work published, Pictures of Horses and English Life, with a foreword by Lionel Lindsay.
1928 Aged 50, given a retrospective exhibition at Norwich Castle Museum, Loan Collections of Pictures by A.J. Munnings R.A., comprised paintings from private and and public collections. Attracts 75,000 visitors over six weeks.
1929 Made a Full Member of the Royal Watercolour Society.
1932 Shoot in a Swede Field, 1901, displayed at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.
1935 Jockey Club commission to sculpt the racehorse, Brown Jack.
Exhibits My Wife, My Horse and Myself at the Royal Academy. Now earning the equivalent of £32,000 per commission.
1938 Elected as first President of the Dedham Vale Society, founded to preserve the countryside of the Dedham Vale, known as Constable Country.
1940 Castle House requisitioned by the army. Munnings and Violet move to Withypool, Exmoor, for the duration of the Second World War.
1944 Elected President of the Royal Academy of Arts. Knighted by King George VI.
1947 Made Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO), a personal honour from King George VI.
1949 Retires as President of the Royal Academy, making speech deriding Modern Art.
Does the Subject Matter?, 1953, by Sir Alfred Munnings, Munnings Art Museum.
1950-1953 Publishes autobiography in three volumes, An Artist’s Life, The Second Burst, The Finish.
1954 Made a Senior Royal Academician.
1955-1956 Major retrospective of Munnings work at the Russell Cotes gallery in Bournemouth, followed in 1956 with a retrospective at the Royal Academy.
1956 Sold paintings and donated the £1,000 proceeds to The Hungary Fund (many Hungarian refugees came to Britain after the Soviet invasion of their country). Last thoroughbred racehorse commission of Aureole for Queen Elizabeth II. Munnings donated £1,500 from the sale of a study of Aureole towards the purchase of Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury for the public.
1959 Sir Alfred Munnings dies peacefully at Castle House on 17th July, aged 80. Ashes interred in crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
