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Lot Essay
The present work is a study for Going to the Start, 1947 (exhibited in the same year Royal Academy, no. 266, now in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Saratoga Springs, NY). A smaller work, featuring several different studies of the horses, is also known.
The 1940s were a busy decade for Munnings, and his output was prodigious and there was a ready market for his work. His name was put forward for the presidency of the Royal Academy and his election would see his name included on the King's Birthday Honours List. Munnings beat out Augustus John for the prestigious role by twenty-four votes to seventeen. When he heard he had been elected he shouted, 'I feel like riding along Piccadilly on a horse. What a go!' (J. Goodman, What a Go!, London, 1988, p. 221).
The present picture is inspired by the racecourse at Newmarket, a subject to which Munnings frequently returned. Munnings was particularly captivated by the Newmarket start and riders going to the post, and his numerous paintings of the subject all started as rapid sketches executed by the side of the racecourse. The dynamism of the horses in motion and the coiled tension of the horses and riders as they prepare to race is beautifully captured by Munnings and illustrate why he was considered the foremost equestrian painter of his generation.
We are grateful to Lorian Peralta-Ramos, the Curatorial staff at The Munnings Museum and Tristram Lewis for their assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
The 1940s were a busy decade for Munnings, and his output was prodigious and there was a ready market for his work. His name was put forward for the presidency of the Royal Academy and his election would see his name included on the King's Birthday Honours List. Munnings beat out Augustus John for the prestigious role by twenty-four votes to seventeen. When he heard he had been elected he shouted, 'I feel like riding along Piccadilly on a horse. What a go!' (J. Goodman, What a Go!, London, 1988, p. 221).
The present picture is inspired by the racecourse at Newmarket, a subject to which Munnings frequently returned. Munnings was particularly captivated by the Newmarket start and riders going to the post, and his numerous paintings of the subject all started as rapid sketches executed by the side of the racecourse. The dynamism of the horses in motion and the coiled tension of the horses and riders as they prepare to race is beautifully captured by Munnings and illustrate why he was considered the foremost equestrian painter of his generation.
We are grateful to Lorian Peralta-Ramos, the Curatorial staff at The Munnings Museum and Tristram Lewis for their assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.