Sir Alfred Munnings

$1.8 Million Munnings Stars in Sporting Art Sale

A foxhunting portrait painted by British master Sir Alfred James Munnings in 1925 could fetch up to $1.8 million at Christie's Sporting & Wildlife Art sale in New York on Dec. 3. Titled F.H. Prince and the Pau Foxhounds, the painting (above), depicts American financier Frederick Henry Prince riding to hounds at Pau, his estate in the foothills of the Pyrénées. Prince had a stable of over sixty horses at the château, where King Henri IV of France was born in 1553. There are several other Munnings works in the sale as well.

Tags: Christies, Equestrian, Foxhunting, Horses, Sir Alfred Munnings, SirAlfredMunnings, Sporting art, SportingArt

Million-Dollar Paintings Headline Sporting Art Auction

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art, Sports

On May 7, Sotheby's in London will stage an auction of important Sporting Art, headlined by two Sir Alfred Munnings equestrian paintings worth several million dollars. The top-priced piece of the sale is Munnings' "A Boy And His Pony - Portrait of Daffern Seal on Canary" painted in 1926. With an estimate of $3 - $5 million, it's one of the highest-priced equestrian portraits ever; however, it's worth noting that in 2004 Sotheby's sold a Munnings entitled "The Red Prince Mare," which had formerly belonged to Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, for $7.8 million, almost $2 million over estimate.

The second-highest lot in the May 7 auction is also a Munnings, "Portrait of Lady Barbara Lowther on Horseback" painted in 1919, with an estimate of $1.6 - $2.4 million. However, we happen to prefer the work of earlier artists such as Ben Marshall and John Frederick Herring, Sr., whose "The Match Between Priam and Augustus at Newmarket," painted in 1831 and pictured above, is estimated at $1 - $1.4 million -- a relative bargain.

Gallery: Sporting Art Auction