Alfred Munnings

Alfred Munnings was one of Britain's most celebrated painters of horses. Born in Suffolk in 1878, the son of a miller, he trained as a lithographer before turning to painting, and he lost the sight in one eye in an accident as a young man. Despite this he became famous for lively, sunlit scenes of horses, racing, hunting, gypsy encampments, and rural life, painted with fresh, confident brushwork.

He served as a war artist in the First World War, painting cavalry and horsemen, and later rose to become president of the Royal Academy. From that post he became notorious for loud attacks on modern art, once mocking Picasso in a famous speech. Munnings's own work stayed firmly traditional, and his spirited pictures of horses in the open air remain hugely popular with collectors.