Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S.

E. J. Rousuck, New York
Private Collector, Connecticut (acquired from the above, 1953, and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 2, 2001, lot 204, illustrated)
Richard Green, London 
Acquired from the above

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This beautiful rapidly painted study is in lovely condition. It is painted on a very fine wooden panel. Under ultraviolet light, one can see a few thin lines of retouching to the left of a tail and a few tiny dots of retouching above and to the right of the head. These are more than likely cosmetic restorations.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Alfred Munnings first met Lady Eleanor Smith while visiting her family’s Charlton manor to complete a portrait of her father, Lord Birkenhead (Frederick Edwin Smith), a politician and friend of Winston Churchill. Munnings recalled Lady Eleanor, an accomplished English writer and reporter, as being “a striking girl” with “thick black hair in waves, brushed back from her forehead, a classic face, bronzed by the sun” and belonging to “the regions of romance” (Alfred Munnings, The Second Burst, London, 1951, p. 223). Munnings’ fondness for Lady Eleanor extends to the present portrait of her striding Arab stallion, rendered with individuality and vitality.  With the cool tones of blues and greens of the background, echoed in the horse’s glossy musculature, this study is a harmonious and striking composition of its own.  While it is uncertain precisely which composition this study later informed, Munnings recalls painting Lady Eleanor on her Arab stallion “carrying a banner like Excelsior, with the letters ‘Liberty’ written on it” (Munnings, p. 223).