Beschreibung:

Sir Alfred James Munnings PRA, RWS (British, 1878-1959)A group of pencil studies comprising: i Up in the Clouds, signed and dated 'Alfred Munnings. 51.' in pencil (lower centre), drawn opposite page 15 of An Artist's Life and separately mounted. ii A study of horses being led in a paddock, drawn on the frontispiece of An Artist's Life and separately mounted. iii A menu card with a sketch of a cowboy (recto), sketches of dray horse and figures, signed and inscribed 'AJMunnings/To Harry Backhouse at Calgary' (in pencil, verso). iv A sketch of figures and horses at a racetrack, signed 'Alfred Munnings' (in pencil, recto), study of figures, signed, inscribed and dated 'In the saddling ring/Notes/Xmas 1949/Alfred Munnings/To Harry Backhouse' (in pencil, verso). all unframed; together with a copy of An Artist's Life by Sir Alfred Munnings (several pages removed) inscribed on the inside cover 'I inscribe this copy of my book to a friend whom I have never seen- who has written me wonderful letters. Who has sent me Christmas gifts beyond all hopes, beyond anything I could ever expect. He is in far away Calgary & his name Harry Backhouse! I wish him well. Alfred Munnings. Feb. 21 1951' (5)FootnotesAlthough Harry Backhouse is not mentioned in any of the volumes of Munnings' autobiographies, Laura Knight writing in her own autobiography Oil Paint and Grease Paint quotes a letter she receives from him Backhouse in March 1931. Written in pidgin English, the letter, addressed from The Ranchmens Club in Calgary, praises Knight for her recent Ballet Girl and Dressmaker, further noting 'you and good old Alf Munnins ave done more than anyone else to bring tears of joy to our eyes.'1 1L. Knight, Oil Paint and Grease Paint, London, 1935, pp.323-324.Saleroom noticesFor details of correspondence between Munnings and Backhouse please see the archive of The Munnings Art Museum.