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Lot Essay
Munnings was a staunch advocate of painting en plein air and as such was fascinated by the changing atmospheric effects on color and light. Like some of the Impressionist painters before him, he often painted a series of works centered around a particular theme under varying light conditions. From 1906-1911 Munnings made many trips with his caravan of ponies, his groom and model Shrimp through Norfolk and Suffolk in search of painting grounds. In picturesque riverside meadows Munnings alternated between bright-weather and grey-weather canvases depending on the conditions. A dominant theme of this period was the idea of ponies crossing a ford. Describing how much he enjoyed the subtle light of grey days Munnings writes, 'On grey days my subject was by the shallow edge of the millstream, where farm-horses watered...The grey-wather subject I prepared for was The Ford - grey water and dark reflections broken by lines of the current. Again what a subject!...A grey ceiling of cloud - calm, serene - all was well. ' (A.J. Munnings, An Artist's Life, Bungay, 1950, p. 239). From childhood he was fascinated with water and it particularly inspired him as horses walked or trotted through steams and fords, stirring the water in ripples. This irregular surface caught the light and created countless different scenes.
In the present work, Munnings has chosen a grey winter's day to paint in watercolor, an unusual medium for him to use for this theme. By doing so he has not only proven his mastery of this medium which he only practiced for another ten years, but he has also achieved a beautiful sparkling effect as light reflected off the broken surface of the water. In addition, the shimmer on the horses's coats, created by white bodycolor over the darker browns, is reminiscent of the white flecks that Constable added to his landscapes to mimic the endless flickers of light. The monochromatic palette that Munnings uses for the landscape, emphasizes the brilliance of light on the white leading horse and the sparking water.
Munnings had an intimate and profound knowledge of horses and their behavior which was more finely tuned by actually living with these horses and ponies summer after summer. His acute sense of observation meant he was able to capture the various attitudes of the horses. The little donkey looks over at the white mare as if seeking security after traversing the ford, the two brown ponies on the right seemingly collide and with ears back show their annoyance. Directly behind them another brown pony lifts its head perhaps having been splashed or noting the near collision in front of him. As is very in character, the ponies on the distant shore, escape the forward flow of movement and stop to feed.
This work will be included in Lorian Peralta-Ramos' forthcoming catalogue raisonée of the works of Sir Alfred Munnings.
In the present work, Munnings has chosen a grey winter's day to paint in watercolor, an unusual medium for him to use for this theme. By doing so he has not only proven his mastery of this medium which he only practiced for another ten years, but he has also achieved a beautiful sparkling effect as light reflected off the broken surface of the water. In addition, the shimmer on the horses's coats, created by white bodycolor over the darker browns, is reminiscent of the white flecks that Constable added to his landscapes to mimic the endless flickers of light. The monochromatic palette that Munnings uses for the landscape, emphasizes the brilliance of light on the white leading horse and the sparking water.
Munnings had an intimate and profound knowledge of horses and their behavior which was more finely tuned by actually living with these horses and ponies summer after summer. His acute sense of observation meant he was able to capture the various attitudes of the horses. The little donkey looks over at the white mare as if seeking security after traversing the ford, the two brown ponies on the right seemingly collide and with ears back show their annoyance. Directly behind them another brown pony lifts its head perhaps having been splashed or noting the near collision in front of him. As is very in character, the ponies on the distant shore, escape the forward flow of movement and stop to feed.
This work will be included in Lorian Peralta-Ramos' forthcoming catalogue raisonée of the works of Sir Alfred Munnings.