Why Artist's Resale Right matters – The Estate of Sir Alfred Munnings
Jenny Hand, Museum Director at the Munnings Art Museum, talks to DACS about why the Artist's Resale Right (ARR) matters so much to artists' estates.
ARR entitles artists and their estates to a modest royalty whenever their work is resold by an auctioneer, dealer or gallery for €1,000 or more.
Sir Alfred Munnings was an English figurative painter known for his depictions of horses and his outspoken dislike of Modernist paintings. Similar to the artist John Singer Sargent, Munnings used Impressionist-like brushstrokes and naturalistic colors to capture moments in the English countryside. What are pictures for?” Munnings asked. “To fill a man's soul with admiration and sheer joy, not to bewilder and daze him.” Born on October 8, 1878 in Suffolk, United Kingdom, he studied at the Norwich School of Art, before travelling to Paris where he encountered the works of Claude Monet. When the First World War broke out, Munnings enlisted, despite having the use of only one eye owing to an accident in 1899. He became an army horse trainer near Reading, and later went to France as an official war artist attached to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. In 1944, the artist was elected president of the Royal Academy of Art. In his valedictory speech, heard on the radio by millions, he famously lambasted Modernism, claiming that Picasso and Matisse had corrupted art. Munnings died on July 17, 1959 in Dedham, United Kingdom. His works are in the collections of the Manchester Art Gallery and the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
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Established by artists for artists, DACS is a not-for-profit visual artists’ rights management organisation. Passionate about transforming the financial landscape for visual artists through innovative new products and services, we act as a trusted broker for 100,000 artists worldwide. Founded over 30 years ago, DACS is a flagship organisation that campaigns for artists’ rights, championing their sustained and vital contribution to the creative economy. We collect and distribute royalties to visual artists and their estates through Payback, Artist's Resale Right, Copyright Licensing and Artimage. Since we were founded in 1984, we have paid over £100 million in royalties to artists and their estates – a significant source of income supporting artists’ livelihoods, their practice and legacy.
MORE FROM DACS:
Why Artist's Resale Right matters – The Estate of John Hoyland
Why Artist's Resale Right matters - The Estate of Reg Butler
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Alfred James Munnings (1878-1959) A collection of paintings 4K Ultra HD
Sir Alfred James Munnings, KCVO, PRA (1878-1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism.
Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several prestigious commissions after the Great War that made him wealthy.
Alfred Munnings was born on 8 October 1878 at Mendham Mill, Mendham, Suffolk, across the River Waveney from Harleston in Norfolk to Christian parents. His father was the miller and Alfred grew up surrounded by the activity of a busy working mill with horses and horse-drawn carts arriving daily. After leaving Framlingham College at the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a Norwich printer, designing and drawing advertising posters for the next six years, attending the Norwich School of Art in his spare time. When his apprenticeship ended, he became a full-time painter.
The loss of sight in his right eye in an accident in 1898 did not deflect his determination to paint, and in 1899 two of his pictures were shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. He painted rural scenes, frequently of subjects such as Gypsies and horses. He was associated with the Newlyn School of painters, and while there met Florence Carter-Wood (1888–1914), a young horsewoman and painter.
They married on 19 January 1912 but she tried to kill herself on their honeymoon and did so in 1914. Munnings bought Castle House, Dedham, in 1919, describing it as 'the house of my dreams'. He used the house and adjoining studio extensively throughout the rest of his career, and it was opened as the Munnings Art Museum in the early 1960s, after Munnings' death. Munnings remarried in 1920; his second wife was another horsewoman, Violet McBride. There were no children from either marriage.
War artists
Although he volunteered to join the Army, he was assessed as unfit to fight. In 1917, his participation in the war was limited to a civilian job outside Reading, processing tens of thousands of Canadian horses en route to France. Later, he was assigned to one of the horse remount depots on the Western Front. Munnings' talent was employed in his position as war artist to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, under the patronage of Max Aitken in the latter part of the war. During the war he painted many scenes, including a portrait of General Jack Seely mounted on his horse Warrior in 1918 (now in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa). Munnings worked on this canvas a few thousand yards from the German front lines. When General Seely's unit was forced into a hasty withdrawal, the artist discovered what it was like to come under shellfire.
The Canadian Forestry Corps invited Munnings to tour their work camps, and he produced drawings, watercolors and paintings, including Draft Horses, Lumber Mill in the Forest of Dreux in France in 1918. This role of horses was critical and under-reported; and in fact, horse fodder was the single largest commodity shipped to the front by some countries.
The Canadian War Records Exhibition at the Royal Academy after war's end included forty-five of Munnings' canvasses.
After the war, Munnings began to establish himself as a sculptor, though he had no formal training in the discipline. His first public work was the equestrian statue of Edward Horner in Mells, Somerset, a collaboration with his friend Sir Edwin Lutyens, who designed a plinth for the statue. This work led to a commission from the Jockey Club for a sculpture of Brown Jack.
Later career
Munnings was elected president of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1944. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1944, and appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1947 New Year Honours. His presidency is best known for the valedictory speech he gave in 1949, in which he attacked modernism. The broadcast was heard by millions of listeners to BBC radio. An evidently inebriated Munnings claimed that the work of Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso had corrupted art. He recalled that 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.
Munnings died at Castle House, Dedham, Essex, on 17 July 1959. After his death, his wife turned their home in Dedham into a museum of his work. The village pub in Mendham is named after him, as is a street there.
Munnings was portrayed by Dominic Cooper in the film Summer in February, which was released in Britain in 2013. The film is adapted from a novel by Jonathan Smith.
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FAKE OR FORTUNE SE04E05 MUNNINGS AND CHURCHILL
Charles Henty, the man in charge of the Old Bailey, has a problem - the death of his uncle has left him with a working farm to run in France and a crippling inheritance tax bill to pay. He is desperate to protect the jobs of the farmworkers and keep the farm running in his uncle's memory, but the only way he can do that is by selling two paintings he owns - if he can prove they're genuine.
One, believed to be by Sir Winston Churchill, was discovered in the coalhole of Charles' family home in London in the 60s. It's a picturesque scene of a medieval village in the south of France. But which village? For the painting to be accepted as genuine, the Fake or Fortune team must first find the exact location and then prove that Churchill painted the scene. There's a lot at stake, with a Churchill painting selling at Sotheby's in 2014 for £1.8 million, but a leading expert has grave misgivings about the authenticity of the picture.
Charles' other painting is a landscape of Dedham in Essex, believed to be by Sir Alfred Munnings, best known for his paintings of horses and once the most expensive British artist of his day. However, Dedham was also the home of Tom Keating, Britain's most notorious forger of the 20th century. Presenter Philip Mould is drawn into the murky world of fakes and forgeries, where nothing is quite as it seems.
The Fake or Fortune team pull out all the stops in this dramatic and emotionally charged investigation, but can they prove that both pictures are genuine?
Richard Deacon 1949 British abstract sculptor New British Sculpture
Munnings Alfred James
1949
British abstract sculptor
New British Sculpture
Sir Alfred James Munnings, KCVO, PRA (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several prestigious commissions after the Great War that made him wealthy.
Alfred Munnings was born on 8 October 1878 at Mendham, Suffolk, across the River Waveney from Harleston in Norfolk. His father ran a water-mill on the river at Mendham. At fourteen he was apprenticed to a Norwich printer, designing and drawing advertising posters for the next six years, attending the Norwich School of Art in his spare time. When his apprenticeship ended, he became a full-time painter. The loss of sight in his right eye in an accident in 1898 did not deflect his determination to paint, and in 1899 two of his pictures were shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.[1] He painted rural scenes, frequently of subjects such as Gypsies[2] and horses. He was associated with the Newlyn School of painters, and while there met Florence Carter-Wood (1888–1914), a young horsewoman and painter. They married on 19 January 1912 but she tried to kill herself on their honeymoon and did so in 1914.[3] Munnings bought Castle House, Dedham, in 1919, describing it as 'the house of my dreams'.[4] He used the house and adjoining studio extensively throughout the rest of his career, and it was opened as the Munnings Art Museum in the early 1960s, after Munnings' death.[5] Munnings remarried in 1920; his second wife was another horsewoman, Violet McBride. There were no children from either marriage. Although his second wife encouraged him to accept commissions from society figures, Munnings became best known for his equine painting: he often depicted horses participating in hunting and racing.
Although he volunteered to join the Army, he was assessed as unfit to fight. In 1917, his participation in the war was limited to a civilian job outside Reading, processing tens of thousands of Canadian horses en route to France — and often to death. Later, he was assigned to one of the horse remount depots on the Western Front.[6] Munnings' talent was employed in his position as war artist to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, under the patronage of Max Aitken in the latter part of the war. During the war he painted many scenes, including a mounted portrait of General Jack Seely Warrior in 1918 (now in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa).[7] Munnings worked on this canvas a few thousand yards from the German front lines. When General Seely's unit was forced into a hasty withdrawal, the artist discovered what it was like to come under shellfire.[8]
Munnings also painted Charge of Flowerdew's Squadron in 1918.[9] In what is known as "the last great cavalry charge" at the Battle of Moreuil Wood, Gordon Flowerdew was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for leading Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) in a successful engagement with entrenched German forces.[10]
The Canadian Forestry Corps invited Munnings to tour their work camps, and he produced drawings, watercolors and paintings, including Draft Horses, Lumber Mill in the Forest of Dreux in France in 1918.[11] This role of horses was critical and under-reported; and in fact, horse fodder was the single largest commodity shipped to the front by some countries.[12]
The Canadian War Records Exhibition at the Royal Academy after war's end included forty-five of Munnings' canvasses.
Munnings was elected president of the Royal Academy of Art in 1944. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1944,[14] and appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1947 New Year Honours.[15] His presidency is best known for the valedictory speech he gave in 1949, in which he attacked modernism. The broadcast was heard by millions of listeners to BBC radio. An evidently inebriated Munnings claimed that the work of Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso had corrupted art. He recalled that 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".
Munnings died at Castle House, Dedham, Essex, on 17 July 1959. After his death, his wife turned their home in Dedham into a museum of his work. The village pub in Mendham is named after him, as is a street there.
Munnings was portrayed by Dominic Cooper in the film Summer in February, which was released in Britain in 2013.[16] The film is adapted from a novel by Jonathan Smith.
Flatford to Dedham Walk
An attempt to walk from Flatford Mill to Dedham proved a little tricky in April after some overnight rain. We visited the Alfred Munnings Art Museum at Dedham.
Malt House, Crown Rise, Dedham, Essex
Malt House, Crown Rise, Dedham, Essex £450,000
Situated on the banks of the River Stour, close to the county border of Suffolk, the well renowned village, made famous by the painter John Constable, stands amidst some of the most picturesque countryside in East Anglia in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Dedham itself, along with its magnificent church, offers a good and interesting range of local shops, restaurants and pubs. There are playing fields, a primary school and the village is also home to the Munning's Museum. The historic town of Colchester and Suffolk's county town of Ipswich provide an extensive range of shopping, commercial, recreational and educational facilities. The main A12 dual carriageway lies about 2 miles to the west and provides a link with London's M25 motorway, the east coast ports, Stansted airport, Cambridge and the Midlands via the M11. Regular main line services run to London's Liverpool Street Station from Manningtree, which is just 21⁄2 miles to the east, in approximately 55 minutes and from Colchester in about 50 minutes.
The nearby east coast, together with the Stour, Orwell and Blackwater Estuaries, and the reservoirs at Tattingstone and Ardleigh, provide excellent watersport opportunities and there are a number of golf courses locally at Stoke by Nayland and Colchester.
The property is situated only 2 and a half miles from Manningtree and seven miles from Colchester. From both these towns it is possible to travel to London in less than an hour by train.
CROWN RISE IS AN EXCITING COLLECTION OF THREE HIGHLY INDIVIDUAL DETACHED PROPERTIES CONSTRUCTED TO THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE STANDARDS IN ONE OF DEDHAM'S MOST DESIRABLE AREAS.
Each house has the benefit of the best features of traditional style and construction, whilst incorporating a contemporary, light, open, living space.
High quality building materials have been carefully selected such as brick, slate roof, plasterwork, and traditional metal railings to reflect the local area.
For more information please contact Chewton Rose of Colchester Tel:01206 564259