Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S. 1878-1959

James Hardy, Sixthorne Hall, near Norwich
Sale, Christie's London, 9th November 1989, lot 156
Private Collection
Richard Green, London
Private Collection

The present work is a superb example Munnings' early style celebrating his beloved East Anglia with a vivacious but assured impressionist technique. 

The blossom on the Hawthorn trees framing the mare and foal suggest the work was painted in springtime and there is a wonderful sense of the rebirth intrinsic to that season.  This is further enhanced by the informal and uncontrived nature of the composition.  The horses, with their healthly gleaming coats, are imbued with a strong sense of skittish movement which is reflected by the blurred nature of the lush landscape in which they roam.  The brush work and palette are bold ensuring both light and shade are intricately portrayed.

Such techniques, along with the 'en plain air' style of the work, would have been gleaned from the time Munnings spent at the Atelier Julian in Paris seven years previously.  There he admired the work of Degas, Fantin-Latour and Tissot.

Munnings set up a studio at Swainsthorpe in 1903 but also held lodgings at Mendham and Norfolk.  He had travelled throughout East Anglia in 1905 accompanied by his favourite gypsy model Shrimp who featured in many works of that period.  His Royal Academy exhibits between 1908 and 1910 suggest a focus on the features of rural life which surrounded him with titles including The Old Gravel Pit (1908 no. 254), The Edge of the Wood (1909 no. 474) and The Watering (1910 no. 530).  Mare and Foal in a Spring Meadow  continues in this vein as a beautiful homage to the natural world.