COLCHESTER.- Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) is one of the most renowned Presidents’ of the Royal Academy. In its 250th anniversary year, there is a unique opportunity to explore his work as landscape painter, rather than as an equestrian or sporting artist for which he was more widely known.

More than half of the 50 paintings on display in Munnings and the River are rarely on public display, including a number from his time at Exmoor during World War Two.

Having established himself as a fine equestrian artist and portraitist, with a clientele that included the future King Edward VIII, Sir Alfred’s private passion was capturing the beauty of natural landscapes and the rivers that flowed through them.

In fact, rivers flowed through Munnings life. He was born beside the River Waveney and his childhood home was the local water mill at Mendham, Norfolk. He settled at Castle House in the Essex village of Dedham, so he could be close to the River Stour – the waterway that was so inspirational to the artist who was Munnings own inspiration, John Constable. When painting commissions required him to be away from his beloved home, he would seek out riverbanks to walk along at the end of a day’s work. He would then detail these perambulations in letters to his wife, Violet - a selection of which can be seen as part of Munnings and the River.

Curator Marcia Whiting says: “It is particularly through Munnings literary references to the river that we understand the great importance of it to him on a personal level. He wrote of the river giving him respite as well being a playground to enjoy being in and on. When he wrote “I am one of those artists who wants to paint pictures…worse than that I long always to sit by a river and paint” we may see why the river became a constant motif for him throughout his life.”

The exhibition – which features drawings, photographs and personal items alongside oil and watercolour paintings - meanders chronologically through the artist’s depiction of various riverscapes; from Path to the Orchard - painted in 1908 and capturing Mendham Mill – to published illustrations for The Tale of Anthony Bell, 1957, exploring and celebrating Munnings’ artistic and literary responses to the subject with which he held such an affinity.

During the formative stages of World War Two, Castle House was requisitioned by the Army and the Munnings moved to Withypool, on the edge of Exmoor. The rolling, heather-clad uplands gave Sir Alfred a newfound sense of freedom, despite the privations of the War. It was on Exmoor that he painted some of his finest landscapes, whilst also capturing the Exmoor ponies, and the sturdy sheep-farmers and shepherds who lived in the often-harsh terrain. Naturally, he was also inspired to paint the nearby river Barle.

Munnings and the River features seventeen works from this time in Somerset. Fourteen, remarkably never shown all together before, have been grouped into two series - one including five paintings and the other, nine.

To accompany the show, Curator Marcia Whiting has written a fully-illustrated catalogue showcasing the collection – the first in The Munnings Art Museum’s history.