Just beautiful, quality framing with non-glare glass. Alfred Munning Signed Print Portrait of Major T. Bausch M.F.H>. Belvoir Hounds. This was given to our consignor for nursing Carol Thompson ( an Olympic horsewoman and daughter of the late CFO of Johnson and Johnson) for 2 weeks during cancer surgery in Colt's Neck, NJ in 2001. Her husband, Willard Thompson, was a race horse trainer and Jockey Club's Trainer of The Year at one time. The print once hung in the New Jersey Turf Club and was awarded to Willard. I adore Munnings. He was the head of the Royal Academy of Art in London as an older man in the early 1900s. He detested modern art and resigned from the academy in protest.
It measures 23.5 inches by 19.5" with quadruple mattting. The frame measures 38.5 x 35.
Sir Alfred Munnings Biography
Alfred Munnings was born at Mendham, Suffolk across the River Waveney from Harleston in Norfolk, in 1878. When he turned 14 years old, he became the apprentice of a Norwich (which is a very lovely place, I visited there) printer, and his tasks included the designing and drawing of advertising posters for approximately 6 years. During this time, he was also attending the Norwich School of Art. After his apprenticeship was over, he became a full time painter as his heart was by then completely captured by painting. One of his favorite topics was rural landscapes, but he also enjoyed painting horses.
Some of his racing and hunting scenes are among the best ever made by Artists. He painted real life moments. He became the President of the Royal Academy, a post he held between 1944-51. He advocated fiercely against the emerging trends of modern Art. His famous departing speech which he gave in 1949 went into Art history as an attack on modernism (according to contemporary accounts, he may have been tipsy at the time). The broadcast was heard by millions of listeners to BBC radio. Munnings who was apparently drunk, said in that speech that Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso had corrupted Art. He also mentioned that Sir Winston Churchill had once said to him, "Alfred, if you met Picasso coming down the street would you join with me in kicking his (word omitted)?" to which Munnings allegedly replied, "Yes Sir, I would".
He was knighted in 1944. He died at Castle House, Dedham, Essex, in 1959. The village pub in Mendham is named after this artist. His home Castle House, depicted in the picture below, was set up as a tribute to his Art by his wife, Lady Munnings, after his death, and it is a well visited museum today.
