Price on request
Inscribed on the reverse, 'working study'
Tempera over pencil on a gesso ground, 30 X 76 ins. (76.2 X 193 cms.)
In a narrow period black painted wedge shaped frame.
Provenance: Lady Monnington, thence by descent.
Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1956, Sir Thomas Monnington; Fine Art Society, 1997 (129).
Literature: Judy Egerton, Sir Thomas Monnington, Royal Academy, 1977, p.13.; Paul Liss, Thomas Monnington, Fine Art Society, 1997, pp. 21-2.
The New Bristol Council House, designed by Vincent Harris, was built in the early 1950s. Monnington was commissioned to paint the ceiling in 1953; it was unveiled in 1956. The ceiling, measuring 95 x 45 feet (over 4000 square feet), is amongst the largest post-war decorative schemes in Europe. Monnington insisted on painting in the Renaissance manner - directly onto wet plaster. The colours were ground and mixed with an emulsion of eggs, chalk and water - Bristol's Clerk of the Works delivered baskets of eggs daily.
'A suggestion by the Bristol city fathers that the subject should be "something connected with the Merchant Adventurers" fell on deaf ears. Monnington determined that his design should instead commemorate those scientific achievements which future Bristolians would associate with the mid-twentieth century, and which he himself had become excited by over the last twenty years: modern nuclear physics; electronics, which had enthralled him first in the shape of radio masts and later in radar equipment; aeronautics, whose laws he had begun to comprehend during the war; and biochemistry, where enlarged photographs of recent research revealed amazing quasi-abstract patterns.' Judy Egerton, Monnington, Royal Academy, 1977, p. 13.
Monnington's design bears similarities to the paintings of the Italian futurist Balla, but is underwritten by his deep admiration for Piero della Francesca, constructed as it is along the lines of the Golden Section. There are also stylistic similarities with the sculptures of Monnington's neighbour, Professor Gerrard. A number of drawings by Monnington for the ceiling are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Science Museum and Bristol City Art Gallery. This important preparatory tempera study is one of two made by Monnington, the second of which is in a private collection (London).
Price on request
Acrylic on boad, 51 3/16 x 36 1/4 in. (130 x 92 cm.)
Provenance: Lady Monnington; John Monnington
Exhibited: Paul Liss, Thomas Monnington, The Fine Art Society 1997, no. 150.
Literature: Paul Liss, Thomas Monnington, The Fine Art Society 1997, p. 57
In a square section modern oak tray frame, stained dark brown.
This work was inspired by a Clematis Montana growing at Leyswood. My interest in abstract is in trying to do something more than imitate, Monnington explained in an interview for the Church Times, (30 December 1966): I think it is possible that, through a more abstract approach, one can get nearer to the underlying nature of reality. A still life entitled Clematis - exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1959 (34) - was possibly the point of departure for this more abstract interpretation. This work is closely related to the ceiling of the Mary Harris Memorial Chapel in its colour and construction. Bristol and Exeter were undoubtedly instrumental in Monningtons pursuit of ‘Geometric’ paintings (a term he preferred to Abstracts). When the Tate purchased Monnington’s Square Design (1967) he spoke of his abstract paintings as “direct descendants from my ceiling painting in the Council House, Bristol, which was my first departure from purely representational painting. Since them I have been increasingly interested in the subdivisions of surface areas contained in equilateral rectangels (squares) and rectangles derived from square roots. These two-dimensional mathematical relationships suggest to me dimensions in depth, and provide a discipline which at the present time I find as necessary and interesting as that imposed previously in representational painting... You can cut out the blurb if you wish, but I was trying for my own edification to put into words what I think I have been trying to do in the last ten years”, (letter of 12th June 1968)
£1,200
Design for the University of London Students’ Union Mural, circa 1964 Gouache over pencil
33 x 51 cm.; 13 x 20 1/16 in.
Exhibited: Sir Thomas Monnington, Royal Academy, 1977, (54) Thomas Monnington, Fine Art Society, 1997, no 137.
Literature: Judy Egerton, Sir Thomas Monnington, Royal Academy, 1977, p.13; Paul Liss, Thomas Monnington, Fine Art Society, 1997, pp. 54-55.
In a stepped gesso reverse section Gluck style frame
In 1964 The Edwin Austin Abbey Trust for Mural Painting in Great Britain commissioned two works from Monnington for the University of London Students’ Union. The first of the two designs was executed in situ, in polyvinyl acetate on a panel 8 x 20 ft. (see photograph), following the compostion and colouring of this study.
The resultant geometric design is very different from the rather florid Scholar Gypsy painted by Gilbert Spencer R.A in 1957, also commission by the Abbey Trust, on the floor below. The Gilbert Spencer mural has remained in situ, but been painted over. The Monnington mural has suffered a worse fate:it was removed sometime in the mid 1990's and is assumed to have been destroyed.
£1,200
Pen and ink
4 x 6 in. (10 x 15.2 cm)
Provenance: Evelyn Monnington
The sketch relates to a large oil of two figures seated under a tree which the artist worked on, and abandoned, during the early 1930's
£3,000
Oil on canvas,
5 1/4 x 5 7/8 in. (13 x 15 cm.)
In a limed oak square section glazed box frame with lap-jointed wooden inner slip.
Monnington painted the background to his Altarpiece Supper at Emmaus, 1931, from studies made near his mother’s house in Sussex, where he and Knights had a cottage and a barn, seen here, which served as a studio.
Price on request
Inscribed on the reverse, under the linen return:
‘Monnington’; oil on fine linen canvas, primed with gesso, laid on board,
27 × 35½ in. (68.6 × 90.2 cm.)
Provenance: private collection, France, since 1990
In a decappe gilded plaster hollow section frame, believed to be original.
This recently rediscovered Monnington combines elements of Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ (1450s, National Gallery, London) with elements of the same artist’s Resurrection (c. 1463, Museo Civico, Sansepolcro,Tuscany). The figures on the right of Monnington’s work are clearly based on the angels in Piero’s Baptism; the torso of Monnington’s hieratic Christ echoes that in the Resurrection. Monnington would have become acquainted with the latter work by Piero when he arrived in Rome in 1923, having won the 1922 Scholarship in Decorative Painting at the British School at Rome.
Stylistically the painting is close to Monnington’s first major Rome painting, The Wine Press (1923), especially with regards to the palette and the slight awkwardness of the figures. The background details, especially the bridge, have certainly similarities with the contemporaneous picture The Marriage at Cana by Winifred Knight, his wife from 1924. The central figure of Christ resembles Monnington himself; he similarly used his own likeness, again with the addition of a beard, for the figure of Christ in his St Emmaus Altarpiece (1933). The figure standing on the right resembles Monnington’s mother.We are grateful to Dr Luciano Cheles and John Monnington for assistance.
£2,600 Charcoal over intersecting diagonals in red wax crayon, sight size 21½ × 17½ in.(54.6 × 44.5 cm.), overall size 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm.)
Monnington began designs for fourteen Stations of the Cross for St George’s Parish Church, Brede, Sussex, in 1959; he exhibited studies for Jesus Meets his Mother and Jesus Falls for the First Time at the Royal Academy that year.The works were commissioned by the Rector of Brede, the Revd Percy Hill, with the support of Bishop George Bell, who enthusiastically endorsed Hill’s choice: ‘If you could get Monnington it would be wonderful.’ Monnington accepted thecommission at a cost of £100 for each station. He expressed a preference to execute the works as frescoes but, since the surface of the ancient walls did not allow this, painted them instead in tempera on panel.The work took several years to complete, and Monnington became deeply moved by the subject matter. The last four or five stations are markedly different in style from the earlier ones, as Monnington was increasingly drawn towards abstraction. Strong stylistic parallels can be made between Monnington’s Stations and Paul Nash’s twelve wood-cuts for Genesis (Nonesuch Press, London, 1924).
Literature: Sir Thomas Monnington, exh. cat.. The Fine Art Society, London, 1997, p. 56
Price on request
Acrylic on board,
17 × 13 in. (43.2 × 33 cm.)
Exhibited: Sir Thomas Monnington,The Fine Art Society, 1997 (no. 140)
Literature: Paul Liss, Thomas Monnington:The British School at Rome, 1997, repr. p. 54.
In a white gesso shadow box frame with museum glass
‘It has been a failing all my life that I take a long time to resolve a painting problem. I take a year to do one painting because I make innumerablestudies preparing the way … I am now preparing something for the summer exhibition – I expect that I will use that as a basis for the mural’ (interview in the Sunday Express, 1969).
The mural to which Monnington refers, and for which this painting is a study, was commissioned by the Edwin Austin Abbey Trust for Mural Painting in Great Britain, and completed and installed in the early 1970s. It was later removed from the Students’ Union and is assumed to have been destroyed.
Monnington was the first President of the Royal Academy to encourage the exhibition of abstract works at the academy, including his own. Although in 1967 the Chantrey Bequest acquired Square Design 1966 for the Tate Gallery, his significant contribution to post-war art in Britain has since been largely ignored.
£400
Pencil, wax crayon and watercolour on tracing paper
50.5 x 38.5 cm.; 19 7/8 x 15 1/8 in.
Provenance:: Evelyn Monnington, thence by descent.
Exhibited: Thomas Monnington, Fine Art Society, 1997, no. 142
Literature: Judy Egerton, Sir Thomas Monnington, Royal Academy, 1977; Paul Liss, Thomas Monnington, Fine Art Society, 1997, pp. 55
Monnington was approached by his follow Trustees in 1966 to submit some design proposals for the redecoration of the main staircase. His proposal, which was not adopted, subdivided the wall surface into painted panels with two alternative decorative schemes: one using ornament related to the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities; the other a modern abstract design. It appears that the statue of Shakespeare by Roubillac, shown in outline, was one of the objects considered for display on the staircase.
£900
chalk over pencil
7 x 7 ins. (18 x 18 cm. sq.) image size;
1 x 11 in. (28 x 28 cm sq.) framed;
Provenance: The Artist's Estate
In a gilded square section frame mounted within a glazed gessoed shadow box with a matching gilded outer moulding.
Monnington's studies for his 'Geometric Paintings' (as he preferred to call them) are works which he crafted meticulously. He frequently reworked the same design over and over again before producing a version in tempera. 'I do feel that as President of the R.A. I should show at least one painting there a year .. I take a long time to resolve a painting problem. I take a year to do one painting because I make innumerable studies preparing the way' (Sunday Express, 19 Oct 1969).
Monnington was significantly the first President of the Royal Academy to paint abstracts, and inevitably his work was not always well received:
'The President is indeed a charming man but his work is an embarrassment. I can only recommend it to some linoleum manufacturer.' So wrote Terence Mullaly, reviewing the Royal Academy Summer Show (Daily Telegraph, 28 April 1967)
Unlike his predecessors, Monnington was prepared to throw open to debate questions about contemporary art. 'I happen to paint abstracts, but surely what matters is not whether a work is abstract or representative, but whether it has merit. If those who visit exhibitions - and this applies to artists as well as to the public - would come without preconceptions, would apply to art the elementary standards they apply in other spheres, they might glimpse new horizons. They might ask themselves: Is this work distinguished or is it commonplace? Fresh and original or uninspired, derivative and dull? Is it modest or pretentious?' (Marjorie Bruce-Milne, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 1967). At the same time Monnington was keen to defend traditional values. 'You cannot be a revolutionary and kick against the rules unless you learn first what you are kicking against. Some modern art is good, some bad, some indifferent. It might be common, refined or intelligent. You can apply the same judgements to it as you can to traditional works,' (interview with Colin Frame, undated newspaper clipping, 1967).
£500
chalk over pencil
4 x 4 ins. (10 x 10 cms.) image size;
8 1/4 x 8 1/4 ins. (21 x 21 cms.) in frame
Provenance: The Artist's Estate.
In a gilded square section frame mounted within a glazed gessoed shadow box with a matching gilded outer moulding.
Monnington's studies for his 'Geometric Paintings' (as he preferred to call them) are works which he crafted meticulously. He frequently reworked the same design over and over again before producing a version in tempera. 'I do feel that as President of the R.A. I should show at least one painting there a year .. I take a long time to resolve a painting problem. I take a year to do one painting because I make innumerable studies preparing the way' (Sunday Express, 19 Oct 1969).
Monnington was significantly the first President of the Royal Academy to paint abstracts, and inevitably his work was not always well received:
'The President is indeed a charming man but his work is an embarrassment. I can only recommend it to some linoleum manufacturer.' So wrote Terence Mullaly, reviewing the Royal Academy Summer Show (Daily Telegraph, 28 April 1967)
Unlike his predecessors, Monnington was prepared to throw open to debate questions about contemporary art. 'I happen to paint abstracts, but surely what matters is not whether a work is abstract or representative, but whether it has merit. If those who visit exhibitions - and this applies to artists as well as to the public - would come without preconceptions, would apply to art the elementary standards they apply in other spheres, they might glimpse new horizons. They might ask themselves: Is this work distinguished or is it commonplace? Fresh and original or uninspired, derivative and dull? Is it modest or pretentious?' (Marjorie Bruce-Milne, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 1967). At the same time Monnington was keen to defend traditional values. 'You cannot be a revolutionary and kick against the rules unless you learn first what you are kicking against. Some modern art is good, some bad, some indifferent. It might be common, refined or intelligent. You can apply the same judgements to it as you can to traditional works,' (interview with Colin Frame, undated newspaper clipping, 1967).
£1,000
Oil on canvas
7 x 5 in. (17.7 x 12.8 cm.)
Provenance: James Monnington.
In a glazed square section limed oak frame with gilded hollow and limed oak lap jointed inner slip.
John Monnington, the artist's son, recalls that, as the summer light began to dwindle, his father would wander out with his artist's materials and paint a rapid impression of the surrounding landscape. Sometimes these served as studies for fuller compositions, worked up in the studio. This study is likely to have been undertaken at Crawley Down in Sussex where Monnington's mother lived and where he and Knights had a cottage and a barn which served as a studio.We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.
£500
Inscribed with title on the reverse by the artist's son, John
Pencil, 13⅜ x 11⅝ in. (34 x 32 cm.)
Provenance: James Monnington, the artist's son
In a polished oak frame with silver inner slip.
Sir Evelyn Campbell Shaw KCVO LLD (1882-1974) was assistant secretary, 1910-47, of the Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, and Honorary General Secretary of the British School at Rome from 1911 until his retirement in 1947, when the Rome Scholars’ Society presented him with this drawing. It was as a young Rome Scholar that Monnington first met Shaw, twenty years his senior; this blossomed into a lifelong friendship. Knights and Monnington frequently visited Shaw in West Somerton, staying in his seashore cottage at Horsey, (see cat G3a.) Though his administration of scholarships and bursaries, Shaw was closely involved with practical support for science and the arts; a man of keen perception and sound judgment, he was much more than an able administrator. Monnington contributed an obituary notice of Shaw to The Times (30 January 1974), singling out as Shaw’s chief contribution to life as his ability to detect honesty of purpose and to encourage the creative capability of others. Monnington and Winifred Knights depended on Shaw (1882-1974) for his excellent judgement. His enormous charm and intellectual integrity quickly gained him immense respect, both from students and the great and the good in the arts. He had a vast circle of contacts who were also good friends. His judgement in the matter of choosing suitable applicants for the Rome Scholarship was excellent, (John Monnington, email to Paul Liss, 10 February 2007).
We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.
£900
Pencil and pen and ink on tracing paper
inscribed and titled by the artist's son, John.
5 1/8 x 6 1/4 in.; (13 x 16 cms.)
In a square section gilded oak frame with broad oak inner slip.
Monnington was passionate about aircraft - by the time he applied to become an official War Artist he had completed over 600 hours of flying time, having worked during the early part of the war in the Design Team of the Directorate of Camouflage. Whilst posted at the Brooklands race track he met Barnes Wallis – inventor of the Wellington Bomber and the bouncing bomb – who asked Monnington to apply his talent to improving the appearance of a heavy bomber which was being developed at the time, (two designs for which are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum). Much in the same vien the Lysander shown here is a developmental design – Monnington’s view of what an enhanced Lysander might look like. Lydansers were used in the early part of the war for dropping SIS officers into France, the very long undercarriage and wide wheel base allowing for landing in fields at speeds as slow as 40 mph. The Royal Air Force (Handbook) by Eric Sargeant, circa 1941, descirbes The Lysander as follows: a very fine aeroplane which has performed many diverse operations during this war. Among its duties are reconnaissance, artillary spotting, delivery of food and ammunition, etc. to beleaguered troops, message-dropping and picking-up, light boming etc. Monnington's enhanced design shows elongated wings and a wider wheel base.
We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.
£1,200
Pencil with traces of sanguine and green ink
20 7/8 x 15 1/4 in; 53 x 38.7 cm
This cartoon is for the right hand side of the central olive tree in Monnington's iconic painting Allegory (Tate Gallery) , the major work of his tenure as Rome Scholar in Decorative Painting.
The cartoon and related studies, commenced in the Spring of 1924, occupied the larger part of the second year of his Scholarship. He commenced the execution of the painting, which was to occupy his third and final year, in March 1925; it was purchased in Rome, by Jim Ede for the Contemporary Art Society, before it was completed and was presented to the Tate Gallery in 1939. The exact meaning of the Allegory is unclear and Monnington himself remained elusive about it; invited by the Tate to explain it, he replied, The idea is a bit complex and was based on the story of the Garden of Eden, but rather a personal interpretation of it” (letter of 17 May 1953). When pressed, a few years later to elaborate, he answered, “I don’t think this picture has anything to do with the Garden of Eden story, but I am no more able to explain its exact meaning now than I was at the time I painted it. The whole design certainly had a very particular meaning and purpose and was an attempt to express in pictorial form my attitude to life - almost my faith (2nd April 1957). Having to be content with this, the Tate Gallery retitled the picture Allegory - Monnington having always referred to it simply by the title Decoration. Iconogrpahically it contains elements of several myths but most obviously The Garden of Love; specific episodes within the painting are reminiscent of Adam and Eve; Apollo and Daphne; The Fountain of Youth. Luciano Chelles has pointed out that the composition is to some extent an adaptation of Piero della Francesca’s Death of Adam (San Francesco, Arezzo) and reproduces specific elements such as the figure sitting on the ground and the placing of a large tree at the centre of the composition. Ricketts and Shannon, asked by the Faculty of Painting at the British School to report on Monnington’s progress commented that they found Monnington, “keenly alive to the merit of the Masterpieces he had seen in Italy and alive to the technical practises of the Masters” (12.1.25) “The cartoons and studies Monnington has made ... are characterized by the utmost thoroughness and care; and some of his pencil drawings of hands, feet, plant forms etc.’ being quite notable in their sense of finsih and beauty” (Charles Ricketts, letter to Evelyn Shaw 12.1.25)
£850
Unframed
Red chalk and pen and ink
6 in. sq.; 15.3 cm sq. (image size)
Provenance: Winifred Knights; thence by descent.
Winifred Knights was one of the Slade's most striking beauties. Amongst others fellow Slade-trained artists Arnold Mason, Colin Gill and Thomas Monnington all fell under her spell.
When Monnington arrived in Rome early in 1923, to take up his Painting Scholarship, Knights broke off her engagement to Arnold Mason. Knights and Monnington were married in April 1924.
£950
Unframed
Red chalk over outline in black ink
19 x 13 in. 48.2 x 33 cm.
Provenance: Evelyn Monnington
This study shows a variant of the clasping hands of the two figures to the far right hand side of Monnington's iconic painting Allegory (Tate Gallery) , the major work of his tenure as Rome Scholar in Decorative Painting. The cartoon and related studies, commenced in the Spring of 1924, occupied the larger part of the second year of Monnington's Scholarship. He commenced the execution of the painting, which was to occupy his third and final year, in March 1925; it was purchased in Rome, by Jim Ede for the Contemporary Art Society, before it was completed and was presented to the Tate Gallery in 1939. The exact meaning of the Allegory is unclear and Monnington himself remained elusive about it; invited by the Tate to explain it, he replied, The idea is a bit complex and was based on the story of the Garden of Eden, but rather a personal interpretation of it” (letter of 17 May 1953). When pressed, a few years later to elaborate, he answered, “I don’t think this picture has anything to do with the Garden of Eden story, but I am no more able to explain its exact meaning now than I was at the time I painted it. The whole design certainly had a very particular meaning and purpose and was an attempt to express in pictorial form my attitude to life - almost my faith (2nd April 1957). Having to be content with this, the Tate Gallery retitled the picture Allegory - Monnington having always referred to it simply by the title Decoration. Iconogrpahically it contains elements of several myths but most obviously The Garden of Love; specific episodes within the painting are reminiscent of Adam and Eve; Apollo and Daphne; The Fountain of Youth. Luciano Chelles has pointed out that the composition is to some extent an adaptation of Piero della Francesca’s Death of Adam (San Francesco, Arezzo) and reproduces specific elements such as the figure sitting on the ground and the placing of a large tree at the centre of the composition. Ricketts and Shannon, asked by the Faculty of Painting at the British School to report on Monnington’s progress commented that they found Monnington, “keenly alive to the merit of the Masterpieces he had seen in Italy and alive to the technical practises of the Masters” (12.1.25) “The cartoons and studies Monnington has made ... are characterized by the utmost thoroughness and care; and some of his pencil drawings of hands, feet, plant forms etc.’ being quite notable in their sense of finsih and beauty” (Charles Ricketts, letter to Evelyn Shaw 12.1.25)
£800
Unframed
Red chalk and pencil on tracing paper, squared in pencil for transfer
18 1/2 x 12 in.;47 x 30 cm.
Provenance: Evelyn Monnington.
Literature: Judy Egerton, Sir Thomas Monnington, Royal Academy 1977
Monnington began studies for 'St. Luke's Printing Works', his third Bank of England picture, in 1934. He completed the cartoon in 1936. The finished painting is the same width as the cartoon but a few inches higher. It was completed in October 1937, with the assistance of L. J. Watson, one of his recent students at the Royal College of Art.
The cartoon illustrates Monnington's methods of controlling perspective, learned from Piero della Francesca. The spectator's viewpoint is the top of the cupboard below which parallel lines, graduated and numbered at the side, measure the distance leading in to the picture.
The three men portrayed are, from left to right, W. W. E. Paddick, Labourer; S. B. Chamberlain, General Works Manager; and J. R. Dudin, Supervisor of the Printing Section. The three girls are drawn from models (see no. 24). The downward gaze of the girl handling banknote paper is Madonna-like; but her hands and wrists have been drawn from accurate observation of the deft and practised movements of printing operatives.
£500
Unframed
Charcoal
17 1/4 x 12 in. 43.7 x 30.5 cm.
This Still Life is similar to, and may have been one of, the charcoal drawings exhibited by Monnington during his Presidency of the Royal Academy during the late 1960's. Monnington was very drawn to African Violets, which Evelyn grew with great success, delighting in their deep purple hues and their soft fleshy leaves.
£200
Unframed
This sketch was probably undertaken in Gloucestershire where Monnington often visited Lord Methuen.
Pen and ink
6 x 6 in; 15 x 15 cm.
Provenance: The Artist's Estate
We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.
£200
Unframed
Watercolour, squared in pencil
8 x 10 in; 20 x 25.5 cm. (image size)
Provenance: The Artist's studio
This composition possibly relates to a series of flower -inspired paintings which Monnington produced during the late 1950's, (for instance Flower-piece 1, RA Summer Show, 1959, no 281).
Reserved Inscribed by John Monnington on reverse; oil on canvas, 14 × 18 in. (35.5 × 45.7 cm.)
Provenance: the artist’s son, James
In a modern gilded D-section reeded frameThe landscape of the Leyswood Estate, near Groombridge, East Sussex,
where Monnington lived from the late 1940s, provided the subject matter for a number of his paintings. John Monnington, the artist’s son, recalls that, as the summer light began to dwindle, his father would wander out with his artist’s materials and paint a rapid impression of the surrounding landscape.
Sometimes these served as studies for fuller compositions, worked up in
the studio. This view is probably of Buckhurst Park, the seat of the Earl and
Countess De La Warr, which adjoined the Leyswood Estate.We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.
Reserved
Unframed
Watercolour and charcaol
11 1/2 x 15 in. (29.3 x 38.2 cm.)
Provenance: John Monnington
Monnington was often drawn to this group of Ash, situation in an area known as the sandpit on the Leyswood Estate. Inspired especially by Cezanne, Monnington was fascinated by the abstract shapes formed by these spindly Ash.
We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.
Not for sale
Oil on canvas
39 x 57 in. (99 x 145 cm.)
Although the subject of this painting is unclear it is most likely to be the Annunciation exhibited at the Royal Academy in March 1926. A reference by Monnington in December 1924, of his intention to paint, in addition to his Allegory, “another smaller picture, some work for which I have already done.” may relate to this painting. In another letter, from Jim Ede, the British School at Rome is informed that Mr. Leverton Harris - listed as the owner of the painting when exhibited at the Royal Academy - thought of going to see the picture but it seems that as yet it is hardly begun (23.3.1925). The painting appears to be set in the Borghese Gardens, the setting Knights used for her Marriage at Cana, (1923-26). Provenance: the Rt. Hon. F. Leverton Harris; Anthony Mould; Jonathon Clark Exhibited: Exhibition of Works Submitted in the Preliminary Competitions for the Rome Scholarship of 1926, together with Some Examples of the Work of Rome Scholars, Royal Academy, March 1926; Inspired by Italy, Exeter Museum and Art Gallery, August - September 1996, (21); Thomas Monnington, The Fine Art Society, 1997, cat no. 15. Literature: Paul Liss, Thomas Monnington, The Fine Art Scoiety, 1997, pp 27 & 36
Not for sale
Chalk and gouche on brown paper, 48 x 85 in. (122 x 216 cm.)
Provenance: The British School at Rome, Lowther Gardens, London; Sotheby’s, London 14th October 1987.
Exhbited: Exhibition of works submitted in the final competitions for the Rome Scholarship of 1922, Royal Academy, February 1922; International Exhibition of Modern and Decorative Industrial Art, Paris, April-October 1925, British Section, Grand Palais (309).
Literature: Illustrated London News, 10th March 1923, Vol 162, p. 366, (finsihed painting reproduced).
Winter was Monnington’s winning submission for the 1922 British School at Rome Scholarship in Decorative Painting. The landscape is based on studies looking towards Clerebury Rings near Salisbury, undertaken during visits in 1921 to the artist’s cousin Dr. R.C Monnington. In a review in the Observer, (22nd February 1922), P.C. Konody praised Monnington’s painting for being “steeped in the best traditions of the Italian Renaissance. His colour is dull, but there is a marked sense of style in his design”. A link with the Italian Renaissance can be demonstrated more specifically in relation to the work of Piero della Francesca: the young peasant leaning with both hands on a spade is a possible echo from the Discovery and Proving of the True Cross (San Francesco, Arezzo). The man sitting on a rock in the middle of the composition appears to be based on the figure of St. Joseph (in reverse) in Piero della Francesca’s Adoration. I am grateful to Professor Luciano Chelles for these observations.
Not for sale
Oil on tracing paper, laid on board, squared for transfer 31.7 x 57.2 cm.; 12 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.
Exhibited: Inspired by Italy, Exeter Museum and Art Gallery, August - September 1996, (21)
Monnington’s Allegory (Tate Gallery) was the major work of his tenure as Rome Scholar in Decorative Painting. The cartoon and related studies, commenced in the Spring of 1924, occupied the larger part of his second year. He commenced the execution of the painting, which was to occupy his third and final year, in March 1925; it was purchased in Rome, by Jim Ede for the Contemporary Art Society before it was completed, and was presented to the Tate Gallery in 1939. The exact meaning of the Allegory is unclear and Monnington himself remained elusive about it; invited by the Tate to explain it, he replied, The idea is a bit complex and was based on the story of the Garden of Eden, but rather a personal interpretation of it” (letter of 17 May 1953). When pressed, a few years later to elaborate, he answered, “I don’t think this picture has anything to do with the Garden of Eden story, but I am no more able to explain its exact meaning now than I was at the time I painted it. The whole design certainly had a very particular meaning and purpose and was an attempt to express in pictorial form my attitude to life - almost my faith (2nd April 1957). Having to be content with this, the Tate Gallery retitled the picture Allegory - Monnington having always referred to it simply by the title Decoration. Iconogrpahically it contains elements of several myths but most obviously The Garden of Love; specific episodes within the painting are reminiscent of Adam and Eve; Apollo and Daphne; The Fountain of Youth. Luciano Chelles has pointed out that the composition is to some extent an adaptation of Piero della Francesca’s Death of Adam (San Francesco, Arezzo) and reproduces specific elements such as the figure sitting on the ground and the placing of a large tree at the centre of the composition. Ricketts and Shannon, asked by the Faculty of Painting at the British School to report on Monnington’s progress commented that they found Monnington, “keenly alive to the merit of the Masterpieces he had seen in Italy and alive to the technical practises of the Masters” (12.1.25)
Not for sale
Oil on canvas, 11 x 19 in. (28 x 48.2 cm.)
Provenance: Lady Monnington; Nicholas Bowlby
Exhibited :Inspired by Italy, Exeter Museum and Art Gallery, August - September 1996, (19); Thomas Monnington, The Fine Art Society, 1997, no 23 .
Literature: Inspired by Italy, Exeter Museum, 1996, reproduced on front cover; Thomas Monnington, The Fine Art Society, 1997, p. 38 and reproduced on front cover.
The woman running to the right essentially reproduces (in reverse) the figure of Flora in Botticelli’s Primavera. The presentation is also reminiscent of the fleeing figure in Botticelli’s Calumny of Apelles. Monnington would have seen both paintings in the Uffizi during the month long study trip to Florence (February/March 1924) undertaken immediately prior to starting his Allegory. Monnington’s Allegory (Tate Gallery) was the major work of his tenure as Rome Scholar in Decorative Painting. The cartoon and related studies, commenced in the Spring of 1924, occupied the larger part of his second year. He commenced the execution of the painting, which was to occupy his third and final year, in March 1925; it was purchased in Rome, by Jim Ede for the Contemporary Art Society before it was completed, and was presented to the Tate Gallery in 1939. The exact meaning of the Allegory is unclear and Monnington himself remained elusive about it; invited by the Tate to explain it, he replied, The idea is a bit complex and was based on the story of the Garden of Eden, but rather a personal interpretation of it” (letter of 17 May 1953). When pressed, a few years later to elaborate, he answered, “I don’t think this picture has anything to do with the Garden of Eden story, but I am no more able to explain its exact meaning now than I was at the time I painted it. The whole design certainly had a very particular meaning and purpose and was an attempt to express in pictorial form my attitude to life - almost my faith (2nd April 1957). Having to be content with this, the Tate Gallery retitled the picture Allegory - Monnington having always referred to it simply by the title Decoration. Iconogrpahically it contains elements of several myths but most obviously The Garden of Love; specific episodes within the painting are reminiscent of Adam and Eve; Apollo and Daphne; The Fountain of Youth. Luciano Chelles has pointed out that the composition is to some extent an adaptation of Piero della Francesca’s Death of Adam (San Francesco, Arezzo) and reproduces specific elements such as the figure sitting on the ground and the placing of a large tree at the centre of the composition. Ricketts and Shannon, asked by the Faculty of Painting at the British School to report on Monnington’s progress commented that they found Monnington, “keenly alive to the merit of the Masterpieces he had seen in Italy and alive to the technical practises of the Masters” (12.1.25) The woman running to the right essentially reproduces (in reverse) the figure of Flora in Botticelli’s Primavera. The presentation is also reminiscent of the fleeing figure in Botticelli’s Calumny of Apelles. Monnington would have seen both paintings in the Uffizi during the month long study trip to Florence (February/March 1924) undertaken immediately prior to starting his Allegory.
Not for sale
Signed and dated,
Gouache, squared, 8 1/4 x 14 1/2 in. (21 x 37 cm.)
Provenance: Redfern Gallery, 24th April 1958
Winter was Monnington’s winning submission for the 1922 British School at Rome Scholarship in Decorative Painting. The landscape is based on studies looking towards Clerebury Rings near Salisbury, undertaken during visits in 1921 to the artist’s cousin Dr. R.C Monnington. In a review in the Observer, (22nd February 1922), P.C. Konody praised Monnington’s painting for being “steeped in the best traditions of the Italian Renaissance. His colour is dull, but there is a marked sense of style in his design”. A link with the Italian Renaissance can be demonstrated more specifically in relation to the work of Piero della Francesca: the young peasant leaning with both hands on a spade is a possible echo from the Discovery and Proving of the True Cross (San Francesco, Arezzo). The man sitting on a rock in the middle of the composition appears to be based on the figure of St. Joseph (in reverse) in Piero della Francesca’s Adoration. I am grateful to Professor Luciano Chelles for these observations.
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Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 ins.(36 x 28 cms.)
Provenance: private collection, London, since 1995
This portrait in profile dates to the early 1930s when Knights and Monnington were living in Crawley Down, West Sussex. At this time Monnington was working on his Supper at Emmaus altarpiece, with which this work has stylistical affinities.
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Oil on panel, 6<1/2> x 9<1/2> ins. (16.5 x 24.2 cms.)
Provenance: Lady Monnington, the artist's wife, and thence by descent
Leyswood was Monnington's home from the late 1930s. Bullfinches Farm, the neighbouring property, was a subject Monnington painted frequently and provided the setting for his epic war painting Tempests Attacking Flying Bombs, 1944 (Imperial War Museum).
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Studio stamp to reverse, oil on panel, 6½ x 9½ ins. (16.5 x 24.2 cms.)
Provenance: Lady Monnington, the artist's wife, and thence by descent
A comparable picture from this period is in the Tate Gallery, entitled Trees, (accession number TO3833).
We are grateful to John Monnington for his help in cataloguing these paintings.
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Pencil with figures in right lightly sketched in red chalk, 21½ x 14 ins. (54.6 x 35.6 cms., mount opening)
Provenance: Lady Monnington; Judy Edgerton
Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1977, (26/4); Drawing and Paintings by Sir Thomas Monnington 1902-1976, Royal Academy 1977, no.15
Returning from his Rome Scholarship in 1926, Monnington was commissioned to paint a mural for St Stephen's Hall, Palace of Westminster, working alongside D.Y. Cameron, Charles Sims, George Clausen, and William Rothenstein, among others. The theme of the murals was the Building of Britain, portraying eight episodes of significance in British history from AD 877 to 1707. This is a study of curtains for the background of Monnington's mural, The Act of Union 1707. Monnington was the youngest artist by 10 years, replacing Sir William Orpen who had resigned from the commission in 1925.
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Tempera on panel, 9W X 13 ins. (23.5 X 33 cms.)
Provenance: Lady Monnington; thence by direct descent
Exhibited: London, Royal Academy, Monnington, 1977 (6); Rome, The British School at Rome, Monnington, 1997 (40)
Literature: Judy Egerton, Monnington, London, The Royal Academy, 1977, p. 25; Paul Liss, Rome, Monnington, The British School at Rome,1997, pp. 40-41, reproduced
This study relates closely to the landscape that appears in The Wine Press, Monnington's first major Rome painting, commissioned by Lord Balniel in May 1923. It is likely to have been executed between February and March 1923, (one month after Monnington arrived in Rome on his Scholarship), when he travelled in Northern Italy, spending a month studying paintings in the Uffizi in Florence, and visiting Pisa, Arezzo, Perugia, Assisi and Orvieto. Alternatively it might have been executed in the summer months that followed, when Monnington reported to the faculty that he had left Rome to escape the heat and was 'doing some landscape studies which will come in useful for future pictures,' (British School at Rome Archives, August 1923). It is particularly close in style to the work of Winifred Knights (they were married in Rome on 23 April 1924), who along with Monnington was inspired by the work of Italian Quattrocento artists, especially the landscapes of Piero della Francesca, in which the same strong sense of space and a fascination with form and pattern are apparent. Monnington's panel has all of the shimmering beauty of his Royal Academy Diploma painting Piediluco, 1924 (Royal Academy collection).
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Pencil, 7A X 10 ins. (18 X 25.5 cms.)
Provenance: Winifred Knights; thence by descent
Winifred Knights was one of the Slade's most striking beauties. Fellow Slade-trained artists Mason, Gill and Monnington all fell under her spell.
Monnington arrived in Rome early in 1923. He married Knights in April 1924.
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Inscribed and titled by the artist's son, John Watercolour and pencil, 5W X 7F ins. (13 X 20 cms.)
Provenance: the artist's estate
Monnington began World War II in the design team of the Directorate of Camouflage. By August 1943, when he applied to become an Official War Artist, he had completed over 600 hours of flying time. He spoke of being so engrossed with aerial observation that up to this point 'all thought of painting had been put out of my head.' His application, however, showed a keenness to now re-engage with painting: 'From the limited amount of war painting which I have seen it does not appear to me that the war in the air, as seen from the air, has been recorded in a way comparable with the significance which this aspect of the war deserves.' The first major product of Monnington's appointment as Official War Artist (November 1943) was Battle Area, 15,000 feet, 1943 (Manchester City Art Gallery). Monnington later expressed disappointment with his aerial studies: 'with the possible exception of the skyscape without any aircraft (Battle Area, 15,000 feet) I have got little of what I wanted of the feeling of being in the air' (Judy Egerton, Monnington, 1977).
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Inscribed and titled by the artist's son, John
Watercolour and pencil, 5F X 7Q ins. (15 X 19 cms.)
Provenance: the artist's estate
Monnington began World War II in the design team of the Directorate of Camouflage. By August 1943, when he applied to become an Official War Artist, he had completed over 600 hours of flying time. He spoke of being so engrossed with aerial observation that up to this point 'all thought of painting had been put out of my head.' His application, however, showed a keenness to now re-engage with painting: 'From the limited amount of war painting which I have seen it does not appear to me that the war in the air, as seen from the air, has been recorded in a way comparable with the significance which this aspect of the war deserves.' The first major product of Monnington's appointment as Official War Artist (November 1943) was Battle Area, 15,000 feet, 1943 (Manchester City Art Gallery). Monnington later expressed disappointment with his aerial studies: 'with the possible exception of the skyscape without any aircraft (Battle Area, 15,000 feet) I have got little of what I wanted of the feeling of being in the air' (Judy Egerton, Monnington, 1977).
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Inscribed on the reverse by the artist’s son, John
Oil on canvas, 12 × 16 in. (30.5 × 40.7 cm.)
Provenance: the artist’s son, James
In the late 1930s the Monningtons frequently went on sailing holidays with the Courtauld family on the Norfolk Broads. On such occasions, often accompanied by his Slade contemporary Rodney Burn, Monnington went
off on sketching sorties to paint en plein air.
A landscape of the same period, entitled Trees, a view down the valley below Leyswood, is in the Tate Collection (T03833).
We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.-
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Tempera on photographic print (by W.H. Grove & Son, London)
7 × 9 in. (20 × 23.5 cm.)
In 1932 the Directors of the Bank of England commissioned a decorative scheme to celebrate the bank’s rebuilding by Herbert Baker. Monnington produce three of the murals.The scheme, which was widely criticised, was a disappointment to Monnington: ‘They certainly look shocking and I forgive any criticism,’ he confided to his brother (6 May 1932). The Times surmised that ‘the problem was to combine a document with a decoration’ (30 April 1932).The rather uninspiring title,‘No Change’, was also unlikely to spur Monnington on to achieve something of the timelessness of his Allegory, 1924 (Tate). It is not known why Monnington added the delicate shades of colour; they do not correspond to the mural.
We are grateful to John Keyworth for assistance. 
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Charcoal over intersecting diagonals in red wax crayon,
sight size 21½ × 17½ in.(54.6 × 44.5 cm.),
overall size 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm.)
Provenance: The Artist's Estate; Nick Bowlby; Rachel Moss
Literature: Sir Thomas Monnington, exh. cat.. The Fine Art Society, London, 1997, p. 56
Framed in a slim reeded d-section gilded frame with a conservation ivory mount.
Monnington began designs for fourteen Stations of the Cross for St George’s Parish Church, Brede, Sussex, in 1959; he exhibited studies for Jesus Meets his Mother and Jesus Falls for the First Time at the Royal Academy that year.The works were commissioned by the Rector of Brede, the Revd Percy Hill, with the support of Bishop George Bell, who enthusiastically endorsed Hill’s choice: ‘If you could get Monnington it would be wonderful.’ Monnington accepted thecommission at a cost of £100 for each station. He expressed a preference to execute the works as frescoes but, since the surface of the ancient walls did not allow this, painted them instead in tempera on panel.The work took several years to complete, and Monnington became deeply moved by the subject matter. The last four or five stations are markedly different in style from the earlier ones, as Monnington was increasingly drawn towards abstraction. Strong stylistic parallels can be made between Monnington’s Stations and Paul Nash’s twelve wood-cuts for Genesis (Nonesuch Press, London, 1924).
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Unframed
Pen and ink
7 ins sq.; 17.8 cm sq (sight size)
Provenance: Evelyn Monnington; John Monnington.
Leyswood in Kent was Tom Monnington's home from 1937 unitl his death in 1976. Both Monnington and Winifred Knights had studios in a large barn in the garden. Following the death of Winfred Knights in February 1947 and Tom Monningtons marriage to Evelyn Hunt in December 1947, Leyswood continued to be the main base for all of Monnington's artistic endeavours. John Monnington, who was born in 1934, recalls that, "domestic life was a counterpart to my father's somewhat tormented life as an artist. His home, created by my step-mother, Evelyn, was a protective haven which restored his energy and gave him the strength needed to keep faith in himself and his work. He loved the truely rural life at Leyswood and was, I suspect, never happier than when working at some strenuous project in the garden with the help of neighbours and friends. While working with such close acquaintences he was able to exchange thoughts and perceptions on many subjects which were far from his own immediate concerns, and his interest in literature and scientific matters was profound and far ranging. As a father he was quite outstanding, both by example and by gentle persuasion. It was his initial infectuious enthusiasm for flying and, in particular his genuine hope that something should be learnt from studying bird-flight, that caused me to adopt my eventual career as an engineer. I am constantly aware that I was incredibly fortunate to have enjoyed my childhood as the only some of two artists. My one regret is that I never properly expressed my gratitude during his liefetime." Thomas Monnington, Paul Liss in association with The Fine Art Society, 1997, p. 17
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