Sir Alfred Munnings: Exmoor Through the Seasons

When: 04 July 2026 to 26 September 2026
Where: Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon
Time: 10:00 - 16:30
Cost: Admission FREE
Suitable for: Family friendly

An exhibition of paintings by Sir Alfred Munnings, former President of the Royal Academy of Arts, capturing the evocative landscapes, people and ponies of Exmoor.

Sir Alfred Munnings and his wife, Violet, escaped the restrictions of their requisitioned Essex home, during the Second World War, by moving to a cottage in the Exmoor village of Withypool. During this period, Exmoor provided a joyful retreat. The oil paintings he produced while there capture the wild beauty of Exmoor through all four seasons. This exhibition showcases his love of Exmoor and its changing landscapes, its people and wild Exmoor ponies.

Munnings grew up surrounded by the activity of a busy working mill in Suffolk, with horses and horse-drawn carts arriving daily. His artistic career began in 1892 at Page Bros., lithographic printers, in Norwich. While there, he took evening classes at a local art school and, as a young artist, he demonstrated a preference for En Plein Air painting. Munnings fought through the adversity of losing sight in one eye at the age of twenty-one to later become the President of the Royal Academy of Arts (1944). By the end of the Second World War, he had become one of Britain’s leading cultural figures.

The exhibition brings together art works and selections from Munnings’ published diaries and poetry written while living in Withypool. These offer a rare personal insight into his artistic process, the people he befriended while living there, and his relationship to the land.

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Our summer exhibition is complemented by a series of events and activities for both adults and children, including En Plein Air sessions in Barnstaple and on Exmoor, and our regular Curious Creators programme of family-friendly artist-led sessions on Wednesdays throughout the school holidays.

Visit the What’s On page on our website for full details.