Sir Alfred Munnings - Artist's Biography

Alfred Munnings was born at Mendham, Suffolk in 1878, the son of a miller. At fourteen he was apprenticed to a Norwich printer, designing and drawing advertising posters for the next six years, attending Norwich School of Art in his spare time. He also studied in Paris during this period, where he was impressed with the plein-air naturalism. When his apprenticeship ended, he became a full-time painter. He frequently painted rural scenes, and subjects such as gypsies and horses.

In 1908 he visited Cornwall, becoming an important part of the Newlyn School of artists. He established himself at Lamorna and it was there he became close friends with Harold and Laura Knight. When the First World War broke out in 1914 he enlisted, despite having the use of only one eye, and became a horse trainer near Reading. He was later to become the official war artist with the Canadian Cavalry Brigade.

Alfred Munnings's world-wide fame is based on his painting of racehorses, yet before 1919, when he was elected an ARA, he had never painted a thoroughbred and it is arguable that his best work was produced in the period 1898 to 1914. “Horses Grazing” is dated 1914 and is an excellent example of his recording of the English country scene.

Munnings was awarded a knighthood and elected president of the Royal Academy of Art in 1944, a post he held until 1949. His presidency is most famous for the departing speech he gave in 1949, attacking Modernism. The broadcast was heard by millions of BBC Radio listeners. An evidently drunken Munnings claimed that the work of Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso had corrupted art.

Sir Alfred Munnings died at Castle House in Dedham in Essex in 1959. Today his paintings take their place in many of the great art collections and museums of England.