British Day, Part 2 - Art by Sir Alfred Munnings

Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) was one of the pre-eminent British artists of his age.  Best known for his excellent depiction of horses, he became wealthy when he gained commissions from the Canadian War Memorial after World War I.  He was president of the Royal Academy of Arts from 1944 to his death.  We start with this portrait of Sir Alfred by his friend Harold Knight.

 

I have featured the work of Harold Knight on the blog before,

 but somehow missed this excellent drawing.

Harold Knight

Harold Knight (1874-1961) was the son of a Nottingham, England architect who attended the well regarded art school in his home city.  Near the end of his studies, he entered some academic male nude paintings in a contest and won the grand prize.  This launched a very successful career as a portraitist, and as far as anyone can tell, he never painted nudes again, male or female.  A conscientious objector, he was blacklisted during World War I, and his career hit the skids.  After the war, however, it recovered, and he was deservedly made a full member of the Royal Academy.

This is hands down my favorite of Knight's nudes, and it stands out 

from the others with it's brightness and blue background.

When we see how he used light in this painting, it's easy to see why Knight 

won a prestigious art prize for what was essentially student work.

Harold Knight took a slightly different approach to the 

classic academic piece of a man pulling on a rope.