English school of the mid-20th century.

English school of the mid-20th century.
After ALFRED MUNNINGS (England, 1878-1959).
"October meeting".
Oil on canvas.
Signed (illegible) in the lower margin.
Measurements: 40 x 72 cm; 50 x 83 cm (frame).

The painting follows models of the British painter Alfred Munnings, known for his works of equestrian art. Specifically, the painting depicts racehorses approaching the start at the October meeting at Newmarket. The horses come alive on the canvas: prancing, snorting and blowing, their glistening coats gliding over the taut muscles of these equine athletes. The painter captures the spaciousness and flatness of Rowley Racecourse, which is used in spring and fall each year, and one can imagine that the figures in the distance are the starter and his assistants.

Sir Alfred James Munnings is known to have been one of England's finest horse painters and an outspoken critic of modernism. Hired by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorial Fund after the Great War, he obtained several prestigious commissions that made him wealthy. Between 1912 and 1914 he was a member of the Newlyn School of artists. His work was part of the Olympic art competitions held in 1928, 1932 and 1948. Munnings was president of the Royal Academy of Arts from 1944 to 1949, when he was succeeded by Sir Gerald Kelly.