.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
During his early years in his native East Anglia, Munnings often used horse fairs and markets as a source of inspiration for subject matter. Being surrounded by people who shared a common interest in horses, as much as the sights and spectacle of these fairs, seems to have appealed to the young artist. He executed a number of works on this theme including, A Suffolk Horse Fair, Lavenham, 1901 (Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum) and The Horse Fair, 1904 (Castle Museum, Norwich).
In the present work, Bungay Horse Fair, canny horse dealers are attempting to show off the merits of their uncooperative horse to a prospective buyer on the right hand side of the composition. Munnings describes it in the first volume of his autobiography: 'Bright sun, tents, crowds, and a black horse hustled by one man and held by another. For this Gray Junior dressed himself in one of those hikey dealer's suits which were made for me to my measurements at a particular kind of tailor's in Norwich. A vanished type, those masterful horse-dealers. They roused a horse, shaking a stiff, pink, cambric flag in its face, the horse on a long halter to give it play. A fellow in velvet and checks shouted, "Lord Wellington didn't ride one like 'im in the battle of Waterloo! Every time he sets 'is foot 'e strikes a milestone!"' (see A.J. Munnings, An Artist's Life, Bungay, 1950, pp. 142-3).
These early scenes of East Anglian country life, executed before Munnings was restricted by patronage, have an immediacy and freshness that makes them particularly compelling. He concentrates on the effects of strong color and natural sunlight. Munnings used Fred Gray, the son of Nobby and Charlotte Gray, itinerant travellers and van dwellers as the model for the young man at the front of the composition. By using real country people as his models, Munnings further enhances the reality and character of these scenes.
In the present work, Bungay Horse Fair, canny horse dealers are attempting to show off the merits of their uncooperative horse to a prospective buyer on the right hand side of the composition. Munnings describes it in the first volume of his autobiography: 'Bright sun, tents, crowds, and a black horse hustled by one man and held by another. For this Gray Junior dressed himself in one of those hikey dealer's suits which were made for me to my measurements at a particular kind of tailor's in Norwich. A vanished type, those masterful horse-dealers. They roused a horse, shaking a stiff, pink, cambric flag in its face, the horse on a long halter to give it play. A fellow in velvet and checks shouted, "Lord Wellington didn't ride one like 'im in the battle of Waterloo! Every time he sets 'is foot 'e strikes a milestone!"' (see A.J. Munnings, An Artist's Life, Bungay, 1950, pp. 142-3).
These early scenes of East Anglian country life, executed before Munnings was restricted by patronage, have an immediacy and freshness that makes them particularly compelling. He concentrates on the effects of strong color and natural sunlight. Munnings used Fred Gray, the son of Nobby and Charlotte Gray, itinerant travellers and van dwellers as the model for the young man at the front of the composition. By using real country people as his models, Munnings further enhances the reality and character of these scenes.