This is a busy summer for British painter Sir Alfred J. Munnings (1878-1959). Not only is he one of the main characters in the film Summer in February - opening tomorrow in Great Britain - he is also the subject of a retrospective exhibition currently on view at the National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg, Virginia. The show, Munnings: Out in the Open, features 68 of the artist's outdoor compositions, including paintings of gypsy life, livestock, the English countryside, and, of course, equestrian life. And one section of the exhibition is specifically dedicated to works created by Munnings between 1912 and 1914, the time period which coincides with the storyline of Summer in February. The works in the show which are not part of the museum's permanent collection, are on loan from private collectors; the Pebble Hill Plantation in Thomasville, Georgia; the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga, New York; The Yale Center for British Arts in New Haven, Connecticut; and the Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum in Dedham, England. It is the largest exhibition of Munnings' work in the United States in the past thirty years, and many of the paintings on display have never before been seen in this country.
Munnings: Out in the Open is on view until September 15th, 2013 (admission is free). A 136 page color catalog accompanies the show, and is available at the National Sporting Library & Museum store for $30 plus shipping. For more details, please visit the museum's website.
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| Dan Stevens (Gilbert Evans), Emily Browning (Florence "Blote" Carter-Wood), and Dominic Cooper (A.J. Munnings) in a still from Summer in February. |
Thank you to Suzanne Lago Arthur and Jill Banks.
Read more about Munnings: Out in the Open on Armand Cabrera's blog, Art and Influence.