Sir Alfred Munnings. His Life, Art and Connection with Dame Laura Knight
Marcia Whiting 22nd April 2023
On the 22nd April a well-attended audience enjoyed an illustrated talk not only about the life of Sir Alfred Munnings but also how and where parallels (and divergence) could be drawn with his close friend Dame Laura Knight. The lecture was given by Marcia Whiting, the curator of the Castle House Museum in Dedham, which was the artist’s home from 1919 until his death in 1959.
Ms. Whiting gave us a broadly chronological exposition of Munnings’ life and works. Born in 1878 at Mendham Mill on the Norfolk/Suffolk border only a year later than Knight, with both showing a talent for drawing at a very early age. At 14 he was apprenticed to a printer in Norwich who specialised in posters, and we saw some examples of this early advertisement work. In his spare time he took lessons at the Norwich School of Art, and, once his apprenticeship was over, he decided to become a full-time artist, despite an accident when 20 that deprived him of the sight of one eye. In 1899, two of his paintings were accepted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and later in life, in 1944, he became President of the Royal Academy.
In 1902 Munnings furthered his art education by spending time and studying in Paris whilst in 1903 Knight (along with husband and painter Harold) also travelled abroad, staying in Holland. However, it was in 1907 that Knight first viewed and admired Munnings’ work when staying in Cornwall and was soon invited to visit him in his studio in Swainsthorpe in Norfolk.
By 1915 both were residing and painting in Lamorna, Cornwall and Ms Whiting was able to show how the light had influenced and changed Knight’s style, somewhat similar to and possibly influenced by that of Munnings. Here Munnings enjoyed being the centre of attention “holding court” in the local pub. It was whilst having his portrait painted by Munnings that Knight first met Barry Jackson and formed a friendship that was to later introduce her to Malvern by attending his Summer Festival.
Unable to fully participate in the First World War, Munnings contributed to the war by becoming an “Army Strapper” sourcing and preparing horses for transporting to the front. Towards the end of the conflict he was appointed artist to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. We were shown the great panorama of the last great cavalry charge in history: ‘The Charge of Flowerdew’s Squadron’
After the war, in 1919, Munnings purchased Castle House in Dedham, where he lived for the rest of his life. Here Ms Whiting was able to discuss a slight divergence between the two artists emphasising that Munnings’ favourite genre was landscape painting and often would like to pre-set the scene, whereas Knight would prefer to very much paint an accurate rendition of what she saw. However, for economic reasons, Munnings was often obliged to continue with portraiture and sometimes accused of being “patron led”.
Unlike Knight being commissioned as a war artist in 1940, Munnings continued his work with the RA being nominated president in 1944.
In later life Munnings was quite firmly anti-modernism which reflected in his speech given at a dinner in honour of his retirement of the RA in 1949.
Ms. Whiting’s talk was illustrated by slides that included many paintings currently hanging at the Castle House Museum in Dedham. She informed us the new exhibition “Munnings: Colour and Light” will soon commence and then be open until October 2023.
Michael Johnson