Paul Mellon would have been delighted to see the standing room only crowd gathered at Middleburg's National Sporting Library on a beautiful mid-winter morning to admire and learn more about the famous equine artist who captured light as stunningly as he captured the spirit of horses. Sir Alfred Munnings, a dashingly handsome and rakish bohemian whose work was valued by discriminating patrons including Paul Mellon, John Hay Whitney, George V and Elizabeth II among others, began life as the son of a Suffolk miller. His love of country life was as evident in his very early work as it is in the collection of paintings The Yale Center of British Art lent the Library for the exhibition and symposium that were part of the celebration of the centennial of Paul Mellon's birth. Nancy Parsons, president and CEO of the Library opened the symposium by noting how pleased she was that the Library's first symposium had become such a "…tremendous success." She emphasized that she sincerely hoped those who had come to Middleburg for the first time would return often. "I am deeply honored to introduce this event as part of our celebration of the centennial of Paul Mellon's birth. We've worked with an international collaboration of museums, libraries and other institutions to honor the great philanthropist. It is a fitting tribute to hang these paintings and discuss the life of their painter, Sir Alfred Munnings, here, just down the road from Mr. Mellon's farm, Rokeby." "We owe special thanks to Betsy Manierre, the NSL curator, for working closely with Yale to make the exhibition, symposium and catalogue happen," she continued. "She and Liz Tobey, our communications director, have worked tirelessly to ensure a wonderful program for you, and a memorable tribute to Mr. Mellon." Manley Johnson, NSL chairman, invited the guests to enjoy the Library's many collections, and suggested they walk out to see Vine Hill, the stately house next door, that is destined to become a new sporting museum. "No other institution in the world will offer the academic, exhibition and research depth we will create at Vine Hill," he explained. "We are very grateful to have this opportunity to create a truly intellectual campus in this wonderful and historic Middleburg home." Director of Communications Elizabeth Tobey thanked the participants for their enthusiasm and noted that there were visitors from as far away as England. "Sadly, there are still twenty individuals on the waiting list that we simply could not accommodate." When Moderator Dr. Timothy Greenan, a member of the NSL board of directors, rose to introduce the first speaker, everyone in the audience was comfortable in the beautifully appointed Founder's Room and excited to learn more about the painter Andrew Rose, Sotheby's specialist in the genre, described as someone who "…transcended sporting art to became a painter of light." In fact, according to Piers Davies, Christie's sporting art specialist, in a conversation with the New York Times, "Munning's use of bright colors and light make him England's Post Impressionist." Diane Roe, administrator and curator of Sir Alfred Munnings Museum in Dedham Essex, introduced Munnings by setting the stage with descriptive details of his youth and early life in East Anglia along the River Waverley. His parents were educated and literary although they were very middle class. His father, a miller in the isolated, rural area, was somewhat perplexed about how to apprentice Alfred who showed signs of artistic talent as early as six years of age. "The River Waverley is so beautiful and he spent so much time along its banks and in its vicinity that it had an immense influence on his work," she explained. "One can walk along it today and see similar scenes in many Munning's paintings that he did throughout his life." Roe, who is a painter herself, delved deeply into Munnings' ability as a colorist. She explained that he began with a palette of earth tones that were not "lively," but evolved into a colorist of masterful talent. "Comparing Munnings early work to his later paintings one can easily see the depth of field and realism with which he imbued his horses and landscapes by having an impeccable understanding of color. Shadows move from violet to deep reds to hues of umber to almost lift the steeds off the canvas. No one can touch him as a colorist." Eventually, Alfred's father apprenticed him to Page Brothers, a Norwich publishing house where he worked very hard doing charming sketches for advertisements, box tops and commercial assignments before he rushed to Norwich Art School to learn every aspect of drawing, painting, sculpting. "It takes a lot of work to kill a youth," he said. Art schools were very rare anywhere in England at this time, but Norwich was an important Victorian city where the arts flourished. According to the New York Times, it was during the period that he was introduced to Constable and the 18th-century animal painter George Stubbs, Munnings' favorite painter. Alfred Munnings was 19 when, in 1897, he was invited to join The Norwich Art Circle where, for the first time, he began to sell and find patrons for his work. He also received critical acclaim from the East Anglia Daily Press and began to see Norwich as "…a playground for the artist." In 1921, his paintings were shown at The Royal Academy in London, a coup that essentially established him and his career. So the precocious boy who learned to paint exquisite flowers with Miss Gertrude Offord and used everything he learned to refine his impressions of the scenes of the countryside he so loved, finished his apprenticeship and returned to the countryside. There he consolidated his methods and suddenly began to paint with color and light. He also began to travel around the countryside at Mengham where he had his first studio. He began to travel around the countryside with his assistant his horses and carts filled with costumes and a wide variety of items he considered essential for his paintings, already expressing a slightly bohemian character. Landscapes just flowed from his heart," said another speaker, Lorian Peralta-Ramos, author of the forthcoming Sir Alfred Munnings catalogue raisonné. "It was his expression of the beauty of England. His early life was a nostalgic recording of a disappearing way of life, a life that ended in World War I." Munnings was rejected by the Army for World War I because he had lost the sight in one eye when a briar hit him while he was lifting a dog over a hedge, and he was often frustrated when his brush would miss the edge of the canvas later in life. Early in 1918, he was attached to the Canadian Cavalry Brigade in France as an official war artist.