Monnington, Walter Thomas, 1902–1976

Fighter Affiliation: Halifax and Hurricane Aircraft Co-Operating in Action 1943

Walter Thomas Monnington (1902–1976)

IWM (Imperial War Museums)

Painter, especially of murals. Born in London, he studied at the Slade School in 1918–23, Rome Scholar 1923–6. Married the artist Winifred Knights, 1924. Among his public works are a decoration for St Stephen’s Hall, Westminster, 1928, and the new Council House, in Bristol, 1956. Monnington taught drawing at the Royal Academy Schools 1931–9, in 1949 joining the staff of the Slade, whose strong linear tradition marked his own work. Monnington is represented in a number of public galleries, including the Tate. He was elected RA in 1938, became its president in 1966 and was knighted in 1967. There was a memorial exhibition at RA, 1977, another travelling from the British School at Rome to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter and the Fine Art Society in 1997.

Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Biography on Wikipedia

Art History Research net (AHRnet) https://www.arthistoryresearch.net/

Walter Thomas Monnington [also known as Sir Thomas Monnington and as Tom Monnington] was born in Westminster London, England on 2 October 1902. His mother, Catherine Elizabeth Monnington (née Brown, 1869-1943) had trained as an artist in Paris. He studied at the London School of Art in 1917 and at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London from 1918 to 1923. In 1923 the British School in Rome awarded him a Decorative Painting Scholarship and he subsequently continued his studies in Rome from 1923 to 1925. Whilst in Rome he met fellow art student Winifred Margaret Knights (1897–1947) whom he married in 1924. He returned to England in 1925 and embarked on a career as an easel painter and muralist.

In 1930 he began exhibiting at the Royal Academy in London and continued to do so regularly until 1970. He also exhibited at Agnew & Sons Gallery, Leicester Gallery, and the New English Art Club in London; Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts; and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. He was elected a member of the New English Art Club in 1929; an Associate of the Royal Academy (A.R.A.) in 1931, and a Royal Academician (R.A.) in 1938. In 1966 he was made President of the Royal Academy (PRA).

He taught part-time at the Royal College of Art in the late 1920s, and from 1931 to 1939 he taught full-time Royal Academy Schools in London

Following the outbreak of World War Two in 1939 Monnington joined a design team set up by the Directorate of Camouflage based in Leamington Spa, and was responsible for the camouflage of airfields. In November 1943, he was appointed an official war artist and was assigned to the Royal Air Force.

After the war he taught at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in London until 1949 when he joined the staff of the Slade, where he taught until 1967. He was also a a member of the Executive Committee of the British School at Rome from 1949 to 1972.

Monnington was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (A.R.A.) in 1931, and a Royal Academician (R.A.) in 1938. In 1966 he was made President of the Royal Academy (P.R.A.) and 1967 he was knighted for his services to art.

Among his commissions were murals for St Stephen’s Hall, Westminster (1926-28), and the Bank of England (1928-37); and the ceilings of the Conference Hall in Vincent Harris’s Council House, in Bristol (1954-56), and the Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Exeter University (1956-58).

Monnington lived in London until 1938 when he moved to Leyswood, a house in Groombridge, East Sussex. He died in his office in London on 7 January 1976. A memorial exhibition was held at the Royal Academy in 1977.