Latest news with #TheKing'sTourArtists
Telegraph
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
King's unseen private art collection to go on display
The King's private art collection will go on display for the first time. Over the last four decades, the King has traversed the globe amassing a private collection of artworks that offer a different perspective on his travels. Since 1985, an up-and-coming artist has been invited to join the royal party, at the King's own expense, to document the sights and landscapes in their own personal style. This summer, for the first time, a selection of more than 70 works by 42 artists, each capturing a unique moment in time in countries from India to Japan, will go on display for the first time at Buckingham Palace. Visitors to the state rooms during the annual summer opening will have the chance to view a new exhibition, The King's Tour Artists, featuring pieces selected by the monarch from his collection, many previously unseen in public. The works on display in the palace ballroom will provide a glimpse of life on a royal tour that differs from the photographic record. They include a painting by Richard Foster that captured the then-Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall gazing out to sea during a visit to the uninhabited North Seymour Island in the Galápagos Islands in March 2009. Other pieces depict the rare moments of calm away from the royal circus. In 1985, artist John Ward joined a tour of Italy at its halfway point, boarding the Royal Yacht Britannia in the port of Catania before she set sail for Venice. His work, From the Afterdeck of HMY Britannia, reflects a moment of rest, a flag fluttering in the sea breeze. HMY Britannia also features in a piece by Susannah Fiennes, produced during a visit by the then Prince of Wales to Hong Kong for the handover to China in 1997. Fiennes made sketches of life on board, including a watercolour of two Royal yachtsmen following the daily routine of lowering and raising the flag. The tour would be the last for the Royal Yacht, which was decommissioned later that year. Other pieces on display will include Paul Reid's Standing Man, capturing a man he encountered during a 2004 tour in Petra, standing by the portico of Al-Khazneh, a rock-cut tomb in the city, and Luke Martineau's depiction of the still waters alongside the Bal Samand Palace in Jodhpur, India, in 2010. When Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis joined the then-heir to the throne on a Caribbean tour in 2000, the relentless pace took her by surprise. Noting that a planned expedition to the Kaieteur Falls in Guyana had been allocated just 15 minutes, she asked to travel ahead to allow her the time to capture the thunderous waterfall in all of its glory. Kate Heard, curator of the exhibition, said: 'This fascinating group of works tells the story of forty years of official travel and artistic patronage. The freedom given to each artist to capture a personal impression of the countries visited has led to the formation of a rich and varied collection. 'Encompassing landscapes, figure studies and still life subjects, these works are testament to His Majesty's deep engagement with and encouragement of artists over the past four decades.' A book, The Art of Royal Travel: Journeys with the King, featuring recollections from the artists and more than 100 illustrations, will be published to accompany the exhibition. It is edited by the Earl of Rosslyn, Lord Steward and personal secretary to The King and Queen, who said: 'By inviting an artist to join a royal tour in 1985, The King started a tradition that has continued unbroken to the current day. 'Some were at the start of their careers, others more established, but when interviewed for this book all were united in gratitude for the memorable artistic adventure it represented, knowing also that they were working for someone in sympathy with the artistic craft, a patron of the arts and a passionate advocate for cultural life.' The King, a keen painter himself, has always allowed each tour artist to take their own approach. While some choose to follow the programme step by step, others barely follow it at all, instead taking themselves off to paint the local landscapes. Beyond choosing the artist, usually an up-and-coming talent rather than an established name, the monarch has no input and exerts no influence over their work. He may set aside some time to chat to the artist about their work and look through some early sketches, but otherwise waits until the pieces are finished back at home before choosing one or two for his own collection. Others are kept for the Royal Collection.
The Guardian
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Royal exhibition to recount 40 years of Charles on tour in 70 artworks
Forty years ago the then Prince of Wales invited, at his own expense, the artist John Ward to join an official visit to Italy as an official tour artist, with the brief to draw or paint whatever inspired him. Since then, 42 artists to have undertaken this role, collectively visiting 95 countries during 69 tours, with their work now going on display at Buckingham Palace. Summer visitors to the State Rooms will see a special exhibition, The King's Tour Artists, with many of the 70 works on display to the public for the first time. Ward never carried a camera but always a small sketchbook, and his work From the Afterdeck of HMY Britannia captured a moment of rest during the faced-paced tour. Britannia features also in Susannah Fiennes's watercolour of two royal yachtsmen after the daily routine of lowering and raising the flag during the tour to Hong Kong for the 1997 handover to China, the royal yacht's last before decommissioning. The pace of the tour to Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica in 2000 meant Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis requested to travel ahead to the Kaieteur Falls in Guyana, which had been allocated just 15 minutes of royal time. In 2009, Richard Foster chose to capture the then Prince Charles and the then Duchess of Cornwall on a visit to the uninhabited Galápagos island of North Seymour. Kate Heard, the exhibition's curator, said: 'This fascinating group of works tells the story of 40 years of official travel and artistic patronage. The freedom given to each artist to capture a personal impression of the countries visited has led to the formation of a rich and varied collection. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'Encompassing landscapes, figure studies and still life subjects, these works are testament to His Majesty's deep engagement with and encouragement of artists over the past four decades.' An accompanying publication, The Art of Royal Travel: Journeys with the King features more than 100 illustrations telling behind the scenes stories of the tours.
