Alfred James Munnings

Sir Alfred Munnings was known as one of Britain's finest painters of horses, and an outspoken enemy of Modernism. He became quite wealthy, as his paintings were collected by the Royal family and the high society. Munnings attended the Norwich School of Art and then became a full-time painter.

Between 1912 and 1914, Munnings was a member of the Newlyn School, an artists’ colony in Cornwall, where he lived alongside fellow painters Dame Laura Knight and her husband, Harold. Munnings met his first wife Florence Carter Wood (1888–1914) who first tried to kill herself on their honeymoon and then did so in 1914. He was then remarried in 1920 to Violet McBride. During World War I he was an official war artist painting horse scenes in battles.

Munnings participated in three Olympic Games in the Art Competitions (1928, 1932 and 1948) with several paintings. He was elected president of the Royal Academy of Art in 1944, and was awarded a knighthood the same year. His desire to make his paintings accessible after his 1959 death resulted in Lady Munnings opening Castle House to the public in 1961.