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Lot Essay
The present work dates from one of two short periods of study in Paris in 1902 and 1903: it is painted on a French canvas and is an unusual subject for the artist.
Lionel Lindsay comments upon Munnings' visit to Paris: 'Early in this period the Corporation of Preston purchased from the Academy his picture, The Last of the Fair [1903; Harris Museum and Art Gallery], and with this, his first important purchase-money - the proper thing to do was to make for Paris and study at Julian's (sic). There he worked and played and lived in that atmosphere of art which Paris alone can provide, and mixed with art students of every degree - an entirely new experience for a Suffolk provincial' (see L. Lindsay, A.J. Munnings, R.A. Pictures of Horses and English Life, London, 1939, p. 6).
In Paris, Munnings discovered the work of Lucien Simon, Bastien Lepage, Gaston la Touche, Fantin Latour, Leon Lhermitte and other masters. He wrote that such painters aimed: 'to fill a man's soul with admiration and sheer joy, not to bewilder and daze him' (see A.J. Munnings, An Artist's Life, Bungay, 1950, p. 182).
Lionel Lindsay comments upon Munnings' visit to Paris: 'Early in this period the Corporation of Preston purchased from the Academy his picture, The Last of the Fair [1903; Harris Museum and Art Gallery], and with this, his first important purchase-money - the proper thing to do was to make for Paris and study at Julian's (sic). There he worked and played and lived in that atmosphere of art which Paris alone can provide, and mixed with art students of every degree - an entirely new experience for a Suffolk provincial' (see L. Lindsay, A.J. Munnings, R.A. Pictures of Horses and English Life, London, 1939, p. 6).
In Paris, Munnings discovered the work of Lucien Simon, Bastien Lepage, Gaston la Touche, Fantin Latour, Leon Lhermitte and other masters. He wrote that such painters aimed: 'to fill a man's soul with admiration and sheer joy, not to bewilder and daze him' (see A.J. Munnings, An Artist's Life, Bungay, 1950, p. 182).