The traditional nature of the curriculum dictated that students first master all the rudiments of design and drawing before being allowed to work with oil paint.
🎈 After the Party, 1897
The identity of the boy in the picture is not known but the domestic setting suggests it might perhaps be one of his
young cousins.
This is the oldest oil painting in the Museum’s collection. Munnings was nineteen at the time and still studying at the Norwich School of Art.
Study for ‘The Saddling Paddock, Cheltenham March Meeting’ @britishsportingarttrust1
The Saddling Paddock, Cheltenham March Meeting (sketch) @yalebritishart
#CheltenhamRaces @cheltfestivals
Celebrating day one of 2026 @cheltenhamraces 🏇 🏇🏇
“Then I began the one picture I always desired to do:
Cheltenham Saddling Paddock, working from studies and been smaller picture which had been painted during the last three years with my remaining steeds.”
Sir Alfred #Munnings in his Autobiography
The Castle House Trust still operates and runs the museum today — and this year, we are proud to celebrate the museum’s 65th anniversary!
In 1961, Violet Munnings established the opening of the museum by creating the registered charity, the Castle House Trust, to operate the museum in Sir Alfred Munnings’ name.
Celebrating #InternationalWomensDay with our very own Lady Munnings 🎩 🐴 🐶
#WorldBookDay 📖 2026
Give me Books!
“Were I forced to make a choice between books and pictures in my home, without any hesitation I would say, “Give me the books”.
Sir Alfred Munnings, The Finish, 1952.
Looking for Mothering Sunday gift inspiration? - Munnings Style!
Browse our Munnings inspired cards, gifts, homewares & more online 🐎💐 www.munningsmuseum.org.uk/shop/
🖼️:
A Stream Overhung by Trees
Langham Mill Pool on the Stour
View with Tendring Hall, Suffolk (demolished in 1955) (1930s)
It’s #WorldWildlifeDay 🌿
The beauty of wildlife and the natural landscape played a vital role in Sir Alfred Munnings’ life.
“My one joy, thirty years ago, was in knowing that my home was near a perfect river and village in an unspoilt country.”
Celebrate @artukdotorg 's 10th birthday with 10% off all prints – enter the code BIRTHDAY10 at the checkout.
Browse prints of pictures by Sir Alfred Munnings shop.artuk.org/prints.html?... 🏇🏇🏇
Considered to be an early work. The paint is very loosely handled in an impressionistic style. Munnings has effectively captured the striking effects of light on the grey horse and background buildings.
🐴 A Farmyard Scene, 1910
👉 Explore Munnings’ work at artuk.org/discover/artists/munnings-alfred-james-18781959
#ArtUK10thBirthday
We’re celebrating @artukdotorg’s 10th birthday 🎉
Art UK is a unique digital experience that connects everyone with the UK’s public art collections.
They digitally unite over a million artworks from 3,500 institutions – museums, libraries, town halls, hospitals – as well as public art.
Busy Monday morning commute 💼
We ❤️ Black Knight’s carry case! A V.I.P always travels in style 🐶
Over the Winter season our Curatorial team have been busy working on new displays & exhibitions for 2026 🐎
For a Friday treat ahead of the weekend, here’s a sneak peek 🫣 of what’s in store for the season ahead!
His wry comment “These riding women imagine they look entirely different to what they are”
🎩 🐴 Study of the Duchess of Westminster, 1921, Oil on board
Munnings was commissioned to paint Violet Nelson, Baroness Parmoor, 2nd wife of the 2nd Duke of Westminster. It was not an easy commission due to the many changes demanded by the Duchess.
Munnings regarded this work as a “crude effort” but one with “a truth about it and each man recognised his own portrait and that of his dog.” He recalled “It was not the mellow light of the October sun alone that gave the glow!”
🖼️ A Shoot in Swede Field, 1901, Oil on canvas
The anatomical detail of the bone structure of the horse’s legs shows how thoroughly the young Munnings had studied his subject, both from life, and from books such as George Stubbs’ Anatomy of the Horse.
🖼️ Taking a Ditch (c1905)
Crayon on canvas
A fun one today! 🎩 🐎
We just love this caricature drawing by #Munnings of Show Hacks
The colouring of the jockey’s silks is placed nearly central in order to bring a focal point to the composition.
🏇 ‘The Unsaddling Enclosure, Epsom‘, 1948
The unsaddling enclosure at Epsom, like the start at Newmarket, was another of Munnings’s favourite subjects. In the studies and the finished painting of the Enclosure at Epsom, he experiments with the bright light contrast of the stands, the dark coat of the horse and shadows 🏇
Trustee of the museum, Hugo Parker later commented “Our volunteers are buzzing after the visit and it is so good to see.”
Finally, Their Majesties went into the former working studio of Sir Alfred Munnings, which still houses his brushes and easels, and met and chatted with fifty of the museum’s volunteer room stewards who greet visitors each year.
Museum Director Jenny Hand said “the museum is a special place for artists, we hope that coming here inspires both beginners and accomplished painters alike”.
Following the tour of the pictures, Their Majesties viewed the newly restored Garden-Room at Castle House, for which they later unveiled a commemorative plaque, and spoke with a number of artists involved in the museum’s activity programme.
Charles Proudfoot, a long standing volunteer who talked to The King about some of the historic documents said that, “The visit has been a real honour.”
Their Majesties also looked at pencil studies, done at various racecourses on the backs of racecards, and letters and photographs from the museum’s large archive of personal ephemera.
