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The adrenaline rush of being a overseas royal tour artist is a “privileged” challenge that is “like being a rabbit in headlights,” members of the elite group of painters have said.
Artists who have been commissioned by the King to capture scenes from the trips met the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday where a special exhibition of their work is going on display to the public.
The 74 works of art, from Charles’ personal collection, depict scenes from recent state visits and other foreign trips dating back 40 years, made when he was the Prince of Wales.
Tom Hallifax, who has bases in both Bridport, west Dorset, and in Belfast, joined Charles in Hong Kong in 1994.
He described the role as “a lovely thing” with time challenges that made it “very challenging as an artist, fascinating as a person.”
The artist said he had “no idea” what he was letting himself in for, adding: “When you haven’t got any idea what you’re meant to be doing, and probably no idea how to do it, even if you were told – it was quite confusing.
“But, you know, there’s some interesting results at the end. I stayed in Hong Kong to paint Chris Patten’s portrait as the last Governor of Hong Kong and so I then stayed there quite a while.
“What it feeds into is great, it is just the actual circumstance of the time are like a rabbit in the headlights.”
Charles began the tradition of personally commissioning and paying for a tour artist in 1985 when John Ward joined an official trip to Italy at Charles’s expense, with the brief to draw or paint whatever inspired him.
A watercolour painted by Charles during that 1985 trip is also on view.
Works by 43 artists who have accompanied Charles on 70 tours visiting 95 countries are on display.
The artists gathered in the palace for a first look at The King’s Tour Artists exhibition before it goes on show as part of a visit to the summer opening of Buckingham Palace, running to September 28.
They described the role as a unique experience which allowed them to travel, observe and paint in a different way to which they normally do.
On Wednesday, Mr Hallifax handed over a small oil on paper portrait of Charles which he managed to finish in 20 minutes during their trip that “was literally the only point where we had a time to sit down and have a brief chat”.
Claudette Johnson made created a soft pastel and gouache on paper portrait of woman after taking part in the first official royal visit to Rwanda in 2022.
It is “time-pressured” and a “whirlwind,” the artist of Walthamstow, east London, recalled.
She added the role was “a privilege” and you got to see things you would not normally see.
Artist Phillip Butah travelled with the King and Queen to Kenya last autumn more than 25 years after he became the youngest winner of the Prince of Wales’s Young Artists’ Award in 1998.
His most memorable painting assignment on tour was a visit with the royal couple to an elephant sanctuary in Nairobi National Park where he tried to recreate the weather, the noises and the elephants behaving like children, playing with each other.
Mr Butah, of Colchester, Essex, said: “It is such a whirlwind. It is so fast-paced. You are moving so fast that you just have to kind of just be ready and be present in the moment. It is a great time but so chaotic.”
He added: “It is the pace, worrying that you are in the right place at the correct time, trying not to get left behind, also being aware that you are there to make work (of art) as well. So you’ve got all these things on you and you are just being hustled and because the security are everywhere with Their Majesties.”
Tim Scott Bolton, a three-time royal tour artist, managed to get separated from the royal party when he was on a tour to Egypt and Jordan in 2021.
He said: “We were in Cairo and I got parted from the Royal entourage that whizzes through the streets with all the police and royal outriders, and so I had to make my way across Cairo on my own. It took me about three and a half hours to get through the Pyramids of Giza.
“When I got there, they wouldn’t let me in because the royal party was there. The guard said, `no, no, no, keep away’.
“So I found a cafe with a tall roof and I thought, ‘well, I’ll paint a picture from this very crowded cafe’.
“When I was packing up, the only place I could put my painting was on the ground, and some man with a really dirty boot went and trod on the picture”
The Shropshire-born artist said he gave Charles a picture and the King also bought an image at commercial prices.
There is an accompanying book, The Art Of Royal Travel: Journeys with The King, featuring recollections from artists and more than 100 illustrations, telling behind-the-scenes stories of the trips.
Exhibition curator Kate Heard previously described the event as “a fascinating group of works (which) tells the story of 40 years of official travel and artistic patronage”.
She added: “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.”
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