Lost and found: Missing Sir Alfred Munnings horse painting tracked down in Canada
A long-lost painting will go on show in the capital this month after it was tracked down almost 4,000 miles away — thanks to the Evening Standard.
Our story about the National Army Museum’s search for a missing canvas by Sir Alfred Munnings was spotted by a reader in Canada who, from the description, recognised the work as one hanging at his local art gallery.
Now a reproduction of the portrait will go on show at the museum, alongside more than 40 other works Sir Alfred painted during his time as a war artist on the Western Front.
The exhibition recreated his 1919 Royal Academy exhibition, but curator Emma Mawdsley was left one canvas short. No trace could be found of the painting which vanished after the original show closed a century ago.
Experts did not even know what it looked like and only had a very brief description of it in the original catalogue as a “portrait of Brigadier-General Paterson’s Mare ‘Peggy’”.
Nicole Fletcher, collections manager at the gallery, said the “popular” work was given to them by the officer’s children in 1984. She said: “I read through the acquisition correspondence with Paterson’s children and they were very attached to the work.
“It seemed like they didn’t really want to let the work go but they donated anyway because they wanted more people to be able to enjoy it for its artistic merit and historical value. So I’m happy that it is getting a wider audience now.”
Sir Alfred, whose equestrian paintings sell for millions of pounds, served as an official war artist and most of the RA paintings are in the collection of the Canadian War Museum which lent them to National Army Museum for the UK exhibition.
His early years as a struggling artist were portrayed by actor Dominic Cooper in the film Summer In February.
The show at the National Army Museum in Chelsea runs until March 3.
Exhibitions to visit in January 2019
