Petworth Park

Claude Muncaster was born in West Chiltington, Sussex. Originally name Grahame Hall, he changed his name by deed-poll in order to avoid confusion with his father, the Royal Academician, Oliver Hall. He first came to notice with his views of London and the Docks, some of which were commissioned by City firms and exhibited at the Royal Academy. The present work was exhibited there in 1925, the same year that his Demolition of Hays Wharf was purchased by the Tate Gallery. In the following year he was to hold his first one-man show at the Fine Art Society. In 1931 he was elected an Associate member of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, becoming a full member in 1936. From 1940-44 he served in the R.N.V.R. advising on camouflage and in 1946-7 he received a major commission to paint a series of watercolours of Royal residences. Particularly known for his marine subjects and views of the Sussex countryside, works by him are in a number of public collections. He lived in Pulborough, Sussex.