Sir Alfred J. Munnings, P.R.A

Sale: Christie's, London, March 8, 1990, lot 133, illustrated
Spink, London

The river was always an inspiration for Munnings and he could rarely forgo painting the rippling swirls or eddies and watery sounds.  As the artist explained: “My home was on a river…Now when I’m often far from it, my one desire is to find the time, which I can, to write about it and browse back on the past, to picture its lovely mills, each in turn and lastly one of the largest on the river–our mill where we lived…it was not just the visual sensation but the sound…it was like a lullaby” (Sir Alfred Munnings, An Artist's Life, London, 1950, p. 36; Munnings, The Finish, London, 1952, p. 299). Not only did Munnings find the reflections of sparking sun on the water fascinating but he was captivated by the dimming evening glow on the churning water of a swift flowing river.

Painted circa 1938.