Alfred Munnings The Painting Room, Norwich School of Art 1897 oil on canvas Norfolk Museums |
Alfred Munnings Does the Subject Matter? ca. 1952 oil on canvas Munnings Art Museum, Colchester, Essex |
Alfred Munnings was elected president of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1944 (defeating the rival candidate, Augustus John – whose ambition and prestige remained nevertheless far higher). Munnings' presidency is still remembered for the after-dinner speech he delivered in 1949, attacking artistic Modernism. It was broadcast live by the BBC and attracted international attention. A drunken-sounding Munnings asserted that widely-revered painters such as Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso had desecrated the meaning and violated the purpose of art. Pictures, Munnings said, were meant "to fill a man's soul with admiration and sheer joy, not to bewilder and daze him." He recalled that his old friend Winston Churchill had once said to him, "Alfred, if you met Picasso coming down the street would you join with me in kicking his . . . something something?" – to which Munnings said he replied, "Yes Sir, I would."
Alfred Munnings Study of Paul Delaney, Withypool, Exmoor 1943 oil on board Munnings Art Museum, Colchester, Essex |
Alfred Munnings In Cornwall (Portrait of the Artist's Wife) ca. 1911-21 oil on canvas Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, West Midlands |
Alfred Munnings Still Life ca. 1897 oil on canvas Norfolk Museums |
Alfred Munnings Sunny June 1901 oil on canvas Norfolk Museums |
Alfred Munnings King George V riding his favorite pony Jock in Sandringham Great Park ca. 1935 oil on canvas Colchester and Ipswich Museums, Essex |
Alfred Munnings The Gilded Coach painted in the Palace Yard in Grey Weather 1936 oil on canvas Munnings Art Museum, Colchester, Essex |
Alfred Munnings Tagg's Island 1920 oil on canvas Munnings Art Museum, Colchester, Essex |
Alfred Munnings Study of George Curzon, Groom 1908 oil on canvas Munnings Art Museum, Colchester, Essex |
Alfred Munnings Sheet of Sketches 1913 drawing Munnings Art Museum, Colchester, Essex |
Alfred Munnings Académie (Julian's Atelier in Paris) 1902 oil on canvas Norfolk Museums |
Alfred Munnings Académie (Julian's Atelier in Paris) ca. 1901 oil on canvas Munnings Art Museum, Colchester, Essex |
Alfred Munnings Académie (Julian's Atelier in Paris) 1901 oil on canvas Munnings Art Museum, Colchester, Essex |
Alfred Munnings On The Downs ca. 1920 oil on canvas Yale Center for British Art |