Royal tour paintings from Charles’s personal collection to go on display

Paintings commissioned by the King to capture scenes from overseas royal tours are to be exhibited at Buckingham Palace.

The 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.

Kate Heard, curator of The King’s Tour Artists exhibition, featuring more than 70 pictures, 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.

“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.”

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.

The exhibition will display works by 42 artists who have accompanied Charles on 69 tours visiting 96 countries over the past decades.

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.

In 2004, painter Paul Reid travelled to Italy, Turkey and Jordan with Charles, and in Petra he focused on a man standing by the portico of Al-Khazneh, a rock-cut tomb in the historic city.

During Charles and Camilla’s 11-day tour to Chile, Brazil and Ecuador in 2009, they were joined by portrait painter Richard Foster, who painted the couple on the uninhabited North Seymour Island in the Galapagos Islands.

An accompanying book, The Art of Royal Travel: Journeys with The King, features recollections from artists and more than 100 illustrations, telling behind-the-scenes stories of the trips.

The King’s Tour Artists exhibition will be included as part of a visit to the summer opening of Buckingham Palace, from July 10 to September 28.