Comments on: Alfred J. Munnings

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:39:59 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Jeff. I agree that he is underrated and underappreciated. I was much more impressed than I expected to be from having only seen his work in reproductions. They don’t do it justice.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:40:45 +0000

I always thought that if Munnings had painted portraits he could have had the fame and reputation of John Singer Sargent. For me his work is every bit as exciting. He is grossly underated.

By: David

David — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:05:51 +0000

I was wandering through the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts when I was attracted to a couple of Munning’s paintings. Then I read about his life. He was an interesting guy. Talk about silver linings. He was blind in one eye due to a freak accident and stayed out of WWI because of it. Probably stayed alive because of it. Anyway here is my post about it.

http://davidnotes.com/2008/08/10/alfred-munnings-virginia-museum/

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:13:16 +0000

Thanks for your comments, Colin.

I almost let the description “equestrian artist” keep me from seeing the exhibit, as I wasn’t familiar with Munnings, and most artists saddled with that label tend to be less interesting to me than others.

It’s unfortunate that there aren’t some high resolution images of his work readily available, because it’s in the details and surface of the paint that he amazes me.

In his work on view at the Brandywine he takes lots of chances, particularly in the adventurous handling of his backgrounds and landscapes.

By: Colin Page

Colin Page — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:40:56 +0000

Hey Charley,

The pics downloaded as I started reading your post, and when I saw the words, “equestrian artist,” I got nervous. Then the images downloaded, and I love them. The foreground in the top pic is amazingly loose. Nice sense of light and very adventurous brushwork. It looks like he may have lost control of the painting a little bit in the foreground, but I admire the guts it takes to take that risk. It makes me like that part of the painting even more. Another new artist to check out.

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:05:19 +0000

Thanks Katherine. I've added your information to the main body of the post. Other readers should check out Katherine Tyrrell's Making a Mark, and from there jump to her other fascinating and informative art related sites.

By: Katherine Tyrrell

Katherine Tyrrell — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:50:34 +0000

Charley – your readers in the UK (and visitors to the UK) might also be interested to know that you can visit the Sir Alfred Munnings Museum in Dedham Vale in the heart of Constable country on the borders of Essex and Suffolk.

The museum is in his home and it’s possible to visit his studio. Last time I was in the area we didn’t quite make it to the Museum but it’s on my list of things to do for next time I’m visiting the area.

This is the Alfred Munnings website associated with the trust which looks after the museum.

Munnings was also for a short while a member of the Newlyn School in Cornwall and also had a studio at Lamorna.

By: Liz

Liz — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:22:33 +0000

That is amazing work. His style really captures the essence of things, thereby portraying them more accurately than even a photograph. Those cows look like they could walk off the screen and into my living room.