Alpine Club Gallery, London 
Mr. Innes
Sale: Sotheby's London, November 12, 1986,  no. 103, illustrated
Richard Green Fine Paintings, London
The Sporting Gallery Inc., Middleburg, Virginia

London, St. Edmonds Art gallery, A Loan Exhibition of Pictures by Alfred J. Munnings,  August 16-September 30, 1939, number 10

Country Life, Mr.  A.J. Munnings' Pictures at the Alpine Club Gallery, The Master of Charterhouse, April 30, 1921, page ༺517, illustrated

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has been recently restored and should be hung as is. The canvas has been lined. The paint layer is well textured and is clean and varnished. In this case, Munnings has painted on a noticeably textured gesso, which gives the paint layer a slightly grainy feel. It is possible that there is a very slight abrasion to the paint layer but the only retouches are around the edges. Despite this speculation, the painting looks well.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

In the early spring of 1920 Major Bouch, the master of the Belvoir, the Duke of Rutland's Hounds made Munnings a generous proposal: "Now" said he, "I've been to the Academy and have seen all of those pictures that you painted with the Canadians, and I want you to come up to stay with me at Woolsthorpe and carry out another similar campaign. You shall have all of the models you need-horses, hounds, men-all day and every day. You have only to say the word, and they shall be where ever you want them. If you want a smart fellow in scarlet on a horse, you shall have him. If you want hounds in a kennels or in the park, or if you want a string of horses out at exercise, they shall stand on the road, like I see the Canadians must have done when you were painting pictures of them. You can stay with me as long as you please-I will find you a horse to ride; you can have a hunt. You can make Woolsthorpe your home!" (Sir Alfred Munnings, The Second Burst, London, 1950, p. 69).

Munnings took full advantage of the generosity of his host and entered into a highly productive period. Many of the works from his stay at Woolsthorpe have become iconic in Munnings' oeuvre. The Belvoir Kennels, Exercising Hounds, and Exercising in the Snow are some of the most celebrated as cornerstones of his artistic output. It is possible that the present work is mentioned by Munnings' autobiography when he states, "I was painting a smart, clean-cut, middle-aged fellow in scarlet, named Weston, on a horse in the wood below the Castle." (Munnings, The Second Burst, p. 75)

As the hounds scurry in search of the day's quarry and the bay horse trots, the brush strokes echo this forward propulsion. The hounds seem to blend into the dry grass in the cold grey hunt morning, becoming nearly abstract in the artist's fluid brush strokes. Munnings was the master of creating th𓃲ese atmospheric tableaus, one that captures the excitement and energy of the hunt.