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Lot Essay
George Candler, who became a great friend of Munnings was a doctor from neighbouring Harleston in Norfolk. In 1899 he lent Munnings a white pony as a model which went to live with the artist at Mendham. The pony was described by Munnings as a 'white, fat favourite' and became a regular model. 'There was no asking for him or waiting until he was not in use. I saw him on a grey day feeding in the orchard, with the river and dark clumps of rushes and a distant level horizon behind him. I was so moved by what I saw that I was quickly back with a boy, my paints and easel... We put oats and bran on the grass in driblets to keep him feeding... I remember the pleasure of painting that day' (see A. J. Munnings, An Artist's Life, Bungay, 1950, pp. 95-6).
Using his young cousins, Nina and Cecil as models he painted a large canvas that he exhibited at the Royal Academy of 1900, entitled 'An Old Favourite' (sold Christie's, New York, 1 December 1999, for $2,972,500). An idyllic expression of childhood, Cecil is depicted sitting on the pony while Nina feeds the pony from a sieve of corn.
While working on this large composition, Munnings struggled with painting the shadows and in order to resolve this executed several studies in watercolor. He described them as 'Blue dappled shadows of an apple-filled tree fell across the pony's back and quarters. Orchard trees in the background cast shadows on the grass' (ibid., p.96). In the present work, one of these watercolors, Munnings has substituted Nina with a dog and Cecil wears a blue cap rather than a white one. Both compositions have the same striking effect of sunlight on the grass of the meadow and the pony's back. The shadows realised in the watercolors were then translated into the large composition.
Cecil and Nina were the children of Munnings's maternal aunt, Rosa. They were also the subjects of Munnings's 1899 Royal Academy picture, Stranded (City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery).
Using his young cousins, Nina and Cecil as models he painted a large canvas that he exhibited at the Royal Academy of 1900, entitled 'An Old Favourite' (sold Christie's, New York, 1 December 1999, for $2,972,500). An idyllic expression of childhood, Cecil is depicted sitting on the pony while Nina feeds the pony from a sieve of corn.
While working on this large composition, Munnings struggled with painting the shadows and in order to resolve this executed several studies in watercolor. He described them as 'Blue dappled shadows of an apple-filled tree fell across the pony's back and quarters. Orchard trees in the background cast shadows on the grass' (ibid., p.96). In the present work, one of these watercolors, Munnings has substituted Nina with a dog and Cecil wears a blue cap rather than a white one. Both compositions have the same striking effect of sunlight on the grass of the meadow and the pony's back. The shadows realised in the watercolors were then translated into the large composition.
Cecil and Nina were the children of Munnings's maternal aunt, Rosa. They were also the subjects of Munnings's 1899 Royal Academy picture, Stranded (City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery).