Gypsy Life -- The Hop Pickers - YCBA Collections Search

Sir Alfred J. Munnings, 1878–1959, British, Gypsy Life -- The Hop Pickers, 1913

Creator:: Sir Alfred J. Munnings, 1878–1959
Title:: Gypsy Life -- The Hop Pickers
Date:: 1913
Medium:: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:: 24 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches (62.2 x 74.9 cm), Frame: 34 1/4 × 39 × 3 3/4 inches (87 × 99.1 × 9.5 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:: Signed, lower left: "A. J. Munnings"
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: © Estate of Sir Alfred Munnings
Accession Number:: B1995.23.5
Classification:: Paintings
Collection:: Paintings and Sculpture
Link to Frame:: B1995.23.5FR
Subject Terms:: agriculture | bridle | caravan | colony | cottage | farming | fields (agricultural land) | genre subject | grazing | hat | horses (animals) | laborers | man | migrant worker's | necklace | pasture | rural | shawl | shawls | shirt | traveler | trousers | village | women | workers
Associated Places:: Hampshire | United Kingdom
Access:: Not on view
Note: To make an appointment to see this work, please contact the Paintings and Sculpture department at ycba.paintings@yale.edu. Please visit the Paintings and Sculpture collections page on our website for more details.
Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:1438
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In 1913, Alfred J. Munnings discovered the colonies of gypsy hop-pickers who would settle and work in the fields of Hampshire in the south of England every summer. His vibrant and colorful depictions of these migrant workers and their families did much to establish his reputation in the years before the First World War. In this scene, the casual stances of the gypsies convey their symbiotic relationship with the landscape: dependent on the land for their livelihood, they appear almost rooted to the ground. Although Munnings was to enjoy the life of a wealthy gentleman artist, he recalled his days among the gypsies in 1913 with fondness: “More glamour and excitement were packed into those six weeks than a painter could well contend with.”

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

Munnings - Out in the Open (National Sporting Library and Museum, 2013-04-24 - 2013-09-15) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

20th Century Paintings and Sculpture (Yale Center for British Art, 2000-01-27 - 2000-04-30) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Munnings, Out in the Open : the open-air works of Sir Alfred James Munnings (English, 1878-1959) , National Sporting Library and Museum, Middleburg, VA, 2013, pp. 3, 28-29, 127, pl. 18, NJ18.M9625 M8 2013 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 1, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Angus Trumble, Edwardian opulence, British art at the dawn of the twentieth century , Yale University Press, New Haven, 2013, pp. 145, 146, fig. 88, N6768 .E39 2013 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

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