National Sporting Library President and CEO Nancy Parsons recently announced that the Library will open an exceptional exhibit April 20th to honor Paul Mellon on the centennial of his birth.

Reflections of a Life with Horses: Sir Alfred J. Munnings' Paintings from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art, will be on view through March 29, 2008.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have such an important exhibit at the National Sporting Library," said President Parsons. "Here, where Mr. Mellon lived, we are proud to participate in an international collaboration in his honor."

The exhibition, a noteworthy tribute to Paul Mellon, will feature sixteen exceptional paintings by the 20th century's premier equine painter, Sir Alfred J. Munnings (1878-1959).

The Library joins many other institutions that plan to host events this year to honor Paul Mellon who was born in 1907 and died in 1999.

Munnings enjoyed a well-established reputation long before Mellon met him in 1932. The second son of a Suffolk miller, the painter had been exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy since 1899. After serving in World War I, he was hired to execute Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, a lucrative commission that launched him on the road to success.

Munnings then started producing dozens of successful equine portraits for the well-heeled sporting set in both England and America. These are the paintings for which he is renowned today.

A 44-page full-color catalogue of the exhibition will be available.

The National Sporting Library is located at 102 The Plains Road, Middleburg, Va., 42 miles west of Washington D.C. just off Route 50. It is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, and on Saturday 1 pm to 4 pm. The Library is closed Sunday and Monday. Visit its web site at www.nsl.org.