The chairman introduced Jenny Hand, who is the Director of the Sir Alfred Munnings Art Gallery in Dedham Essex, situated in Castle House, his last home, which he dubbed ’My Dream House’. He was a prolific and accomplished artist and whilst there is, as yet, no comprehensive catalogue of his paintings, the gallery currently holds about 400 of his works.
He was born at Milhouse, Mendham, Suffolk and showed remarkable artistic gift at a very early age, a fact ably illustrated by a painting of a pony which he produced at age 9, and his early water colour of the mill at Mendham.
In 1892 whilst apprenticed to a printer he took an interest in the Belle Epoch and designed several posters for famous companies including Colman’s Mustard, and Caley’s Chocolate. The Director of Caley’s was so impressed by his posters that Sir Alfred was invited to join him in tours to Europe, where he further refined his artistic skills. His extraordinary paintings emphasised the three-dimensional nature of his subjects and between 1897 to 1900 he exhibited and sold his ink and wash monochrome pictures in Norwich.
In 1899 Munnings had an accident whilst negotiating a stile with his dog, and he lost the sight of his right eye, but after lengthy recovery, he continued as a skilled and productive artist, moving into a new studio near Norwich, and we were shown his remarkable Constable-like country scenes.
Alfred Munnings settled in Cornwall in 1911 at Lamorna Cove, where he formed and led a group of artists, and met his first wife, Florence, who later suffered mental illness and tragically took her own life 4 days before the outbreak of the First World War. In 1918 he was selected as the official war artist to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, and in 1920 he married his second wife Violet.
He went on to produce portraits of Lord Rothschild, the Duke of Marlborough, and the Royal family, and these were exhibited in Norwich as a tribute to him in 1925. We were also shown an illustration of one of his stunning paintings,
“My wife, my horse and me”, featuring Lady Violet on horseback, outside Castle House. He became president of the Royal Academy of Art from 1944 to 1949. Munnings was famously outspoken, and in 1956, he produced a painting showing famous artists of the time reacting to inconsequential works of art, titling the work
“Does the subject really matter?” which was unexpectedly well received.
Castle House was Alfred Munnings’ last home, which he bought in 1919. It now houses the exhibition which is dedicated to his life and work. His ashes are buried in St Paul’s Cathedral next to those of his hero, John Constable.
Sir Alfred Munnings was a man of many talents, and questions were asked by the audience about his sculptures, his European studies, and his music and poetry, as well as his paintings. The chairman thanked the speaker for her enthusiastic and instructive talk, and beautiful illustrations.
Alan Clegg
