Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S.

Scott & Fowles, New York

Purchased from the above by Mervyn LeRoy, Los Angeles

Sale: Sotheby’s, New York, 24 April 2002, lot 126

Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

‘I am standing on the course - the most beautiful course in the world: cloudless October sky, a faint wind from the east.... I am looking at the scene, the old, old scene - a centuries old scene. Horses come up the course looking like those of years ago... Bright colours in the sun just the same as of yore.... What a sight for the artist! with the long shadows and the lights on the boots, lights on the horses.... This is the best picture I have ever seen...’ (Alfred Munnings, The Finish, 1952, pp. 216-17)

It is difficult to date Going to the Post as throughout the 1930s and 1940s Munnings painted pictures capturing the anticipation of horses and jockeys in the moments before a race. After World War II, Munnings concentrated on racing scenes, particularly those at his favourite racecourse, Newmarket. In his autobiography, he wrote of his experiences there, ‘Some horses, more restive than others – dancing sideways, capering, rearing, bounding – dashed off in pursuit of those ahead. For me the visual beauty was over all too soon, as strings of restive horses came down, turned and cantered one after the other up the hill to meet the sun. What books did I fill with hundreds of drawings and notes! My mind and brain were saturated in the subject.’ (Sir Alfred J. Munnings, The Finish, London, 1952, p. 181) The artist spent days at the track where he enjoyed the unusual privilege of bicycling on the race course. Doubtless an eccentric spectacle, it afforded him extraordinary mobility to view the field of runners during the sketching and planning phase of a composition. He would then continue his work at his studio in the old rubbing down house. This unprecedented access to all aspects of racing at Newmarket provided Munnings with countless themes to fuel this highly productive period of his career.

Munnings loved the scenes preceding the start of a race. Horses and jockeys gather in anticipation of the dropping of the starting flag, some more quietly than others. In this, as in many of his compositions of this subject, Munnings places a semicircle of entries angled towards a central horse who looks out, engaging the spectator. These moments before the start gave Munnings an opportunity to observe closely the field of horses, to examine each from various angles, revealing their individuality, their characteristic expressions and body language. Although other artists, most notably Herring, composed similar scenes before the start, none have the convincing reality or vitality that Munnings was able to achieve.

There were several notable collections of Alfred Munnings’ work on the American West Coast, including the important group at the Los Angeles Turf Club at Santa Anita. The track was frequented by movie stars and the moguls of the Hollywood film studios as well as the moguls of the Hollywood film studios who enjoyed the atmosphere and excitement of a day at the races. Going to the Post originally belonged to the former actor, comedy writer and director Mervyn Le Roy (1900-1987), perhaps best known for his seminal depression-era crime and gangster films for Warner Bros., and notably for producing The Wizard of Oz at MGM. He was a passionate racing enthusiast, a founding member of the Hollywood Turf Club and on the board of directors at the Hollywood Park Racetrack from 1941 until his death in 1987.