Lot 31
  • 31

Sir Alfred J. Munnings, P.R.A., 1878-1959

Estimate
500,000 - 700,000 USD
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Description

  • Sir Alfred J. Munnings, P.R.A., 1878-1959
  • Before the Start
  • Signed A.J. Munnings (lower left)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 14 1/4 by 28 1/8 in.
  • 36.2 by 71.5 cm.

Provenance

Scott and Fowles, New York
Mrs. Payne Whitney, New York (acquired from the above April 15, 1948)
Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney (by descent from the above)

Exhibited

London, Leicester Galleries, The English Scene:  Horses, Racing, Landscape and Studies by Sir Alfred J. Munnings, 1974, no. 62
New York, Wildenstein Gallery, Alfred J. Munnings:  Images of the Turf and Field, 1983, no. 72
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Man and the Horse:  An Illustrated History of Equestrian Apparel, 1985
Saratoga Springs, National Museum of Racing,  A Selection of Equestrian Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, 1989, no. 28

Literature

Alexander Mackay-Smith, Jean R. Druesdow, Thomas Ryder, Man and The Horse:  An Illustrated History of Equestrian Apparel (exhibition catalogue), New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984, illustrated p. 46

Catalogue Note

Munnings was a superb colorist, and the allure of jockeys’ silks always fascinated him. The pink with black and white sleeves of the Whitney English silks are particularly colorful and appear with slight variations in a number of Munnings’ racing scenes. Although “the call of the sun was one of the strongest forces in [Munnings’] career,” Munnings often experimented with effects of flat light on cloudy days (Reginald Pound, The Englishman, p. 7). Here the vivid pink and cerulean blue of the silks enliven the otherwise subdued tones of the scene.  

We are grateful to Lorian Peralta-Ramos for her assistance in cataloguing this painting.