September afternoon, Exmoor

Munnings, a countryman at heart, had a particular love of the dramatic and distinctive landscapes around Exmoor in Devon and Withypool in particular, where he and his wife had a house. The works that Munnings produced there have an especially intimate and personal feel since typically they were unsolicited and painted purely for pleasure. In 1940 Castle House, in Dedham, their principal residence, was requisitioned by the army and they decamped to Exmoor on a more permanent basis. But with his election as President of the Royal Academy his Exmoor idyll was intruded upon with a stream of letters, telegrams and requests to attend the Academy in war-torn London.

We are grateful to Lorian Peralta Ramos for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry. The painting will be included in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the work of Sir Alfred Munnings.