Prince Charles exhibits his watercolors in London but "has no illusions" about their quality
Prince Charles, the heir to the British Crown, has had a passion for watercolor painting for almost 50 years. He is exhibiting 79 of his works until February 14 in London in a renovated 19th-century chapel.
This is the largest exhibition of his works to date. Prince Charles has painted outdoors the places he loves, Scotland, the royal residences. His travels are also a source of inspiration, from Switzerland to Tanzania via Provence and Greece. He personally chose the watercolors for the exhibition, presented by location and country, until February 14 in London's Garrison Chapel.
We travel there from the snow-capped Scottish mountains to Wales, from the laces of Montmirail in Provence to Mount Athos in Greece, and as far as Transylvania (Romania). The prince's brushes have also immortalized Klosters and Saint Moritz in Switzerland, or the Château du Barroux in the south of France.
No illusions about the quality of the paintings
Prince Charles chose watercolor because he found "the photo unsatisfactory" in a text exhibited with his works at the Garrison chapel in the Belgravia district. "It requires the most intense concentration and is, therefore, one of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercises I know," he adds. "It transports me to another dimension, which refreshes certain parts of the soul, which other activities cannot reach" .
Despite the delicacy of some of his watercolors, he says he has "no illusions" about their quality. "But they represent my particular form of a photographic album, and as such, are very important to me".
Prince Charles is the author of 680 watercolors, sometimes signed AG Carrick, a pseudonym created from the initials of two of his other first names Arthur and George, and his title of Earl of Carrick.
A family of artists
Prince Charles comes "from a line of artists" , underlines Rosie Alderton, curator of the exhibition, recalling her father Prince Philip's paintings and the watercolors and drawings of Queen Victoria (1819-1901).
No watercolors of Prince Charles have ever been for sale, but some, reproduced as lithographs, can fetch thousands of pounds online. A few lithographs are also sold on his Highgrove estate. "All profits from sales are donated to the Prince's Foundation, which organized the exhibition, or to its charities," says Rosie Alderton. Over the years, these sales are said to have brought in several million pounds, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Not enough time to paint
Fifty of Prince Charles's watercolors had already been exhibited at Hampton Court Palace in 1998, on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday, and thirty others in 2018 by the National Gallery of Australia for his seventieth birthday.
Since 2019, very busy with his royal occupations, the prince has hardly had time for watercolors. Will he have any when he is king? Rose Alderton "hopes so" , because, she says, "her works are really charming" .
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