MUNNS, JOHN BERNARD (1869-1942)

"Harbourview" (1907)
watercolour
27.5 x 38.5cm
signed lower right
*private collection, Sydney
 
Munns RBSA NSA was a respected English Portraitist & Landscape Painter. He was born in Birmingham, the son of a revered genre artist, Henry Turner Munns (1832-1898). He studied at the Birmingham School Of Art. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy & the Paris Salon from the late 19th century. He was a member of the renowned Birmingham Art Circle which was established in 1879. He was elected associate member of the Royal Birmingham Society Of Artists in 1917 and full member in 1923. Munns was best known for his dreamlike portraits of high society, with sitter's often placed in romantic landscapes, very much in the tradition of the Pre Raphaelites. Many of these portraits were exhibited at the Royal Academy. His works are represented in the Birmingham Art Gallery, Sandwell Borough Metropolitan Council, Kidderminster Town Hall & Royal Shakespeare Theatre. This unusual landscape watercolour was completed early in Munns' career. As Munns spent his life living in landlocked Edgbaston, this series of watercolours was likely completed on holiday.