Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S. (1878-1959)

Throughout his career Munnings drew inspiration from the world around him. His early works focused on everyday scenes of life in rural Norfolk at the turn of the century. Although horse fairs and farm sales dominate his work at this date, in Norwich Flower Market Munnings has turned the focus on a flower seller and his wares.

Drawing inspiration from artists such as Jean-François Millet and George Clausen Munnings has captured a rural labourer hard at work. The eye is drawn to the brilliant white clusters of flowers in the foreground, which contrast with the man’s brown fustian clothes. Beyond stands his donkey and cart, painted in precise detail by Munnings, surrounded by vivid flowers of every hue, captured in short brushstrokes laden with paint. Painted after Munnings’s sojurn in Paris, Norwich Flower Market, clearly demonstrates the influence of the Impressionists on his technique and choice of composition. The picture is a celebration of the quotidian, elevated into art in a glorious riot of colour.

We are grateful to the Curatorial staff at The Munnings Art Museum for their assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
This work will be included in Tradition and Modernity: the Works of Sir Alfred Munnings by Lorian Peralta-Ramos to be published 2022.