Alfred James Munnings

Sir Alfred James Munnings 1878 – 1959

He was born in Mendham Suffolk on 8th October 1887, he began as an apprentice lithographer in Norwich and studied painting at evening classes, at the age of 20 an accident caused him to lose the sight in his right eye but this did not stop him painting. In 1899 he had two pictures accepted at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

In 1919 he bought Castle House in Dedham describing it as ‘ the house of my dreams ‘ and was used throughout his career, it was opened as the Munnings Art Museum in early 1960s after his death.

His painting included ponies, rural life, travelling communities and landscapes, his painting from his time at war are where his pictures of the Canadian Cavalry watering there horses and the Forestry Corps hard at work in the forests. his later career Munnings painted wealthy patrons on horseback, Royalty, hunters and racehorse owners and this was a profitable time for him, in 1944 he was elected president of the Royal Academy of Art, he died on the 17th July 1959 in Dedham.