.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This was one of the most ambitious canvases that Munnings had attempted to this date and certainly one of the largest commissions. Previously, he had painted A Suffolk Horse Fair (1901; Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum) and The Vagabonds (1902; Private Collection) both of which measured 50 x 80 inches, but neither were commissions, which by their very nature were always more demanding. Although Munnings' style was clearly recognisable at an early stage, there is considerable variation in his paint application in the early years of the 20th Century. This work clearly draws on the conventions of John Charlton and Charles Wellington Furse whilst setting the scene for what became the most important strand of his work in the 1920s. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1907 along with another work dating from 1905 entitled Charlotte's Pony (Private Collection) which showed the influence of Henry Herbert La Thangue, whose densely worked surfaces were intended to convey the flicker of sunlight on foliage. The glistening highlights on the horses in the present work clearly illustrate the fluidity of Munnings' brushwork which became a hallmark of his work.
Munnings had already established a reputation as a painter of hunting scenes, for which he used various grooms. These began in 1902 with a suite of four pictures now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1907 he also undertook Huntsman in Cover (Private Collection) which shows similar long and determined brushstrokes as in the present work and also follows the same compositional construction where the figure and horse dominate the picture frame and thus have a monumentality and importance that is absent from much 19th Century sporting art. Later he abandons this format in favor of presenting his sitters in the context of their property, drawing on the traditions of 18th Century portraiture. Another effective compositional element, again breaking with tradition, that gives a lovely sense of spontaneity is the position of the head of the near horse. The hunter stretches his head and neck, probably in an attempt to loosen the tension on the reins. The lowered head mimics the movement of the front leg of the other horse and it also creates an arch from its hind leg, giving a sense of movement to the composition.
There was a long established firm in Norwich called Messrs. Chamberlin Sons & Co., founded by Henry Chamberlin, whose son George was Mayor of Norwich in 1891. The Mayor had a son Captain F.G. Chamberlin who is the gentleman featured in this double portrait. Captain Chamberlin was a member of the Volunteer Batallion of the Norfolk Regiment (see fig. 1). He fought in the Boer War and at the time this painting was undertaken he was the Sheriff of Norwich in 1907.
A study of this work (measuring 14½ x 18½ in.) was with Richard Green, London in 1997.
We are grateful to Norma Watt, Assistant Keeper of Art, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, for her kind assistance in the preparation of this entry.
This work will be included in Lorian Peralta-Ramos' forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Sir Alfred Munnings.
Munnings had already established a reputation as a painter of hunting scenes, for which he used various grooms. These began in 1902 with a suite of four pictures now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1907 he also undertook Huntsman in Cover (Private Collection) which shows similar long and determined brushstrokes as in the present work and also follows the same compositional construction where the figure and horse dominate the picture frame and thus have a monumentality and importance that is absent from much 19th Century sporting art. Later he abandons this format in favor of presenting his sitters in the context of their property, drawing on the traditions of 18th Century portraiture. Another effective compositional element, again breaking with tradition, that gives a lovely sense of spontaneity is the position of the head of the near horse. The hunter stretches his head and neck, probably in an attempt to loosen the tension on the reins. The lowered head mimics the movement of the front leg of the other horse and it also creates an arch from its hind leg, giving a sense of movement to the composition.
There was a long established firm in Norwich called Messrs. Chamberlin Sons & Co., founded by Henry Chamberlin, whose son George was Mayor of Norwich in 1891. The Mayor had a son Captain F.G. Chamberlin who is the gentleman featured in this double portrait. Captain Chamberlin was a member of the Volunteer Batallion of the Norfolk Regiment (see fig. 1). He fought in the Boer War and at the time this painting was undertaken he was the Sheriff of Norwich in 1907.
A study of this work (measuring 14½ x 18½ in.) was with Richard Green, London in 1997.
We are grateful to Norma Watt, Assistant Keeper of Art, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, for her kind assistance in the preparation of this entry.
This work will be included in Lorian Peralta-Ramos' forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Sir Alfred Munnings.