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Lot Essay
In 1911 Munnings moved to the artists’ colony in Lamorna, Cornwall: 'In those days before motor traffic brought sight-seers and countless visitors to Cornwall, lodgings were cheap; farm butter and clotted cream were in abundance; no electric pylons or posts straddled the moors or lined the roads; no sounds of motor horns disturbing the villages’ (Munnings, An Artist’s Life, London, 1950, pp. 275-6).
A great hunting enthusiast, Munnings rode with the Western Foxhounds. Colonel William (Willy) Bolitho was Master and 'A few farmers, a dealer, a butcher, a doctor or two and a lawyer made up the field - all the best of friends' (ibid., p. 285). Inspired by his experiences in the field, the artist painted a series of hunting subjects set against Cornwall's woods, moors and cliffs. His model for these works was a local boy called Ned Osborne (fig. 1). 'I found a new lad, a primitive Cornish youth. Ned was the name of this simple soul, who grew into a useful combination of groom-model and posed for many a picture.' He 'had the right-coloured face and figure for a scarlet coat and a black cap. Often did the patient fellow sit as model for me, and he liked it.' (ibid., pp. 272-3).
Although identified in the past as a portrait of Jack Cooke and the Norwich Staghounds, the painting’s technique and comparison with the Zennor and Trevelloe Wood paintings show it be otherwise. Instead the present work depicts Ned Osborne astride Munnings’ grey mare, with her distinctive docked tail, in the dappled light of Trevelloe Wood. The mare had been purchased by Munnings in Ireland in 1913 and replaced Grey Tick as his favoured model for the series of works executed in Redhouse Moor and the adjoining Trevelloe Wood, situated to the north of Lamorna. These paintings of 'a scarlet-coated whip sitting on a dapple grey in the fir-wood' (ibid., p. 284) culminated in The Whip, Trevelloe Wood (fig. 2, sold in these Rooms on 13 December 2018, lot 100 for £1,628,750). In both paintings the hounds almost blend into the shadows cast by the spindly trees, whereas the pale grey coat of the horse and the striking scarlet coat of the rider create a vivid contrast with their surroundings.
We are grateful to Lorian Peralta-Ramos, Tristram Lewis and the Curatorial staff at The Munnings Museum for their assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
A great hunting enthusiast, Munnings rode with the Western Foxhounds. Colonel William (Willy) Bolitho was Master and 'A few farmers, a dealer, a butcher, a doctor or two and a lawyer made up the field - all the best of friends' (ibid., p. 285). Inspired by his experiences in the field, the artist painted a series of hunting subjects set against Cornwall's woods, moors and cliffs. His model for these works was a local boy called Ned Osborne (fig. 1). 'I found a new lad, a primitive Cornish youth. Ned was the name of this simple soul, who grew into a useful combination of groom-model and posed for many a picture.' He 'had the right-coloured face and figure for a scarlet coat and a black cap. Often did the patient fellow sit as model for me, and he liked it.' (ibid., pp. 272-3).
Although identified in the past as a portrait of Jack Cooke and the Norwich Staghounds, the painting’s technique and comparison with the Zennor and Trevelloe Wood paintings show it be otherwise. Instead the present work depicts Ned Osborne astride Munnings’ grey mare, with her distinctive docked tail, in the dappled light of Trevelloe Wood. The mare had been purchased by Munnings in Ireland in 1913 and replaced Grey Tick as his favoured model for the series of works executed in Redhouse Moor and the adjoining Trevelloe Wood, situated to the north of Lamorna. These paintings of 'a scarlet-coated whip sitting on a dapple grey in the fir-wood' (ibid., p. 284) culminated in The Whip, Trevelloe Wood (fig. 2, sold in these Rooms on 13 December 2018, lot 100 for £1,628,750). In both paintings the hounds almost blend into the shadows cast by the spindly trees, whereas the pale grey coat of the horse and the striking scarlet coat of the rider create a vivid contrast with their surroundings.
We are grateful to Lorian Peralta-Ramos, Tristram Lewis and the Curatorial staff at The Munnings Museum for their assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.