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

Leicester Galleries, London;
Percy L. Halsted, purchased from the above, May 1938;
Anon. sale; Sotheby's London, 14th June 2001, Lot 49;
Richard Green, London;
Private Collection

The life and works of Sir Alfred James Munnings are synonymous with all the great British race meetings but perhaps none more so than Ascot.   It was the subject of his work on a number of occasions; the highly important, Ascot Procession crossing Windsor Great Park which was a commission from Her Majesty, Queen Mary in 1925 as well as the larger version of Their Majestie's return from Ascot, which was part of Munnings personal collection and subsequently purchased by the Chantrey bequest for the Tate Gallery. 

He describes the effect that the Ascot experience had on him in his autobiography;
"My mind became so full of all this brilliance, glitter and activity that it was difficult to decide which, out of all that I had seen, would be the best arrangement for a picture...The low afternoon sun, the lengthening shadows, the tall elms not yet stricken by elm diseases, the Windsor people with their children in summer dress, cheering as the King and Queen went by.  There was something intimate about the scene."

This sense of intimacy is wonderfully evoked in the present work; with the fashionable subjects in their summer dresses placed to the far left of the composition the viewer is drawn in almost as a contemporary witness to this fleeting moment.

The lady in blue, who might be Lady Munnings (with lightened hair) holds the tell tale race card as she looks over the field of horses entered in the next race in an unseen paddock. We have caught the ladies in serious contemplation gazing at the entries, as if they are considering something which has just been discussed but we have not heard.  We are aware of much of this because Munnings painted a similar work Two Ladies at Ascot, (private collection USA, exhibited Saratoga 2000) which included a mounted jockey and other spectators (a man in top hat) in the distant background. We therefore know that it is mid June which can still be slightly chilly, hence the wrap and jacket over the graceful flowing dresses.

The picturesque potential of elegant ladies in their colourful summer finery with myriad folds of soft draping fabric attracted artists such as John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorrola and was tantalizing for Sir Alfred Munnings. Munnings had established his reputation for his non equestrian subject matter with a rich and dazzling collection of gypsy pictures that were exhibited at James Connell and Sons, London in 1920. His success with this and his exhibition of war time works propelled him into the beau monde whose demand for equestrian portraits was so arduous that he never returned to gypsy subjects.  The present work along with Tagg's Island (the models' day out) (see Fig. 1.) are testimony to the artist's interest in the characters of high society which now surrounded him.  To Munnings such people were as crucial an aspect of a race meeting as the thoroughbreds themselves.

He continuously returned to subjects of sunlight highlighting simmering colour whether it was reflected off of jockeys silks or ladies in fluttering summer dresses. His theme of ladies in canoes is most notable as he painted over forty-five images of his wife in a summer frock with various friends paddling in a quiet stream. His concern seemed to be his manipulation of reflected light and colour on various textures.

With an Impressionist’s eye for the transient nature of colour and light, Munnings has experimented in this present work, with the shifting sheen of colour and light on swaying fabric, made from what appears to be silk or possibly taffeta. To capture this elusive moment en plein air, Munnings had to work at speed but with conviction.  Painting alla prima spontaneously and directly onto the canvas without preliminary studies, Munnings laid on the thick impasto paint with Henry LaThangue’s square brush technique to create the folds of the dress fabric. The impasto is so rich in the dresses that it mimics the actual physical quality of the drapery, reminiscent of the vigorous bravura style of Sargent.  The impasto in the figures as compared to the thinly painted and summary background grass and trees accentuates the figures so that they seem almost tangible.

Despite these differences between subject and background, the figures are still very much a part of the actual atmospheric conditions. The figures are incorporated into the scene by Munnings’ use of reflected colour. Greens of the grass are seen in the yellowy dress and, similarly, the blue hues of the second dress has been included in the sky and trees. Even the pink of the hat is has been darkened to describe the tree shadows. This consistency of colour provides coherency throughout the entire canvas, binding all of the elements together in one stolen moment.

It is work like this that showcases Munnings as a skilled impressionist painter. Sensitive to the nuances of impressionist colour theory and bravura style equal to the notable British Impressionists, he is worthy of consideration as much more than the appellation of horse painter.

We are grateful to Lorian Peralta-Ramos for her assistance with the preparation of this catalogue note.
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne of Munnings' work.