Artist Alan Cotton has had 27 solo shows with his London gallery, David Messum Fine Art. This past summer, however, Cotton’s work appeared in an even more prestigious London venue—Buckingham Palace—during an exhibition 40 years in the making.
Since 1985, His Majesty King Charles has taken an artist with him during his travels abroad. In total, 43 artists have now undertaken this prestigious role, collectively visiting 95 countries across 70 tours. When the King—at the time the Prince of Wales—was preparing to visit Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in 2005, Cotton was honored to be chosen as one of those artists.
Artist Alan Cotton with King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, in 2005.
“I had just arrived home from a holiday in St. Lucia and switched on my phone. Among a flurry of messages were several urgent ones from St. James’s Palace asking if I would like to accompany his Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, as a tour artist, to the southern hemisphere,” Cotton reflects.
The final message said that as the tour date was only two weeks away, they needed an immediate response. Cotton wasted no time in picking up the phone to say that he would be honored to join the Prince of Wales as his tour artist. Within two weeks, bags packed with painting gear and all the necessary outfits for a Royal Tour, Cotton boarded a flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Then followed an hour’s helicopter trip to Batticaloa, the site of a devastating tsunami that had occurred the previous December.
New Zealand - Soaring Albatrosses Near Taiaroa Head, oil on canvas, 36 x 28" (91 x 71 cm)
Fiji - Blown Grasses in Mountain Landscape, oil on canvas, 20 x 20" (51 x 51 cm)
“We flew low across the landscape, as dawn was breaking, where a series of hills appeared through the mist, whilst rivers glinted in the early morning light, and I made a series of quick sketches to record the moment,” Cotton says. “Then as we approached Batticaloa, we could see the trail of destruction caused by the tsunami. The temple, a magnificent ornate structure, was split in half. For me it was a humbling experience. The fabric will be repaired, and donations for the appeal have been the largest ever, but the pain will be always in the people’s hearts. Many have lost whole families, and none remains unscarred. I spoke to many people, including one man who had lost three of his children. The Prince’s visit gave everyone there an ‘uplift.’ He has the ability to put people at ease, and he communicates easily—a great skill.”
New Zealand - Rocky Outcrops at Taiaroa Head, oil on canvas, 24 x 24" (61 x 61 cm)
In Australia, the Royal Party visited five locations: Perth, Alice Springs, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, with short stays in each, yet still time for Cotton to do a series of drawings, as they traveled around. He was particularly impressed with the botanical gardens in Melbourne. In the capital, Canberra, one of the highlights was the visit to the Australian War Memorial, a long building open to the sky with the aisles listing every Australian whose life was taken by war. Cotton remembers that “Touchingly, thousands of families and friends had attached poppies to the names of their loved ones, creating a peppered design of red against the marble columns. We were told that this is the most visited monument in Australia.”
Fiji - Sunlit Peaks After the Storm, oil on canvas, 14 x 14" (36 x 36 cm)
New Zealand - Albatross Landing Near Taiaroa Head, oil on canvas, 28 x 36" (71 x 91 cm). Collection of King Charles III.
In Dunedin, New Zealand, Cotton felt more at home. The rugged cliffs of Taiaroa Head reminded him of Hartland, in the South West of England, where he would stand on the cliff edge, looking down to the jagged rocks below and then casting his eye along the coastline to the distant horizon. However, here at Taiaroa, what excited him most were the albatross soaring above the cliffs, riding the thermals and then sweeping down to sea level. Cotton was allowed to stay on and work there. “To see these graceful birds, with a wingspan of three meters gliding along the cliff tops and being lifted by the thermals, was a joyful experience,” he says.
The landscape of Fiji was particularly inspiring and provided a rich source of material to work with. Cotton was given a driver who took him to his own village in the mountains. Here, he created many drawings. including the driver’s tethered ox.
New Zealand - Surging Waves at Taiaroa Head, oil on canvas, 36 x 28" (91 x 71 cm)
Sri Lanka - Dawn Flight Towards the Coast, oil on canvas, 20 x 20" (51 x 51 cm)
“The weather was stormy, but there were brilliant passages of sun when the landscape came to life,” says Cotton. “From my watercolors and drawings, I made a great number of paintings back in my studio in Colaton Raleigh, in Devon.”
Despite the hectic itinerary as Cotton traveled with the King, he managed to gather a wealth of material, and the following autumn, all the paintings from the tour were exhibited at London-based David Messum Fine Art in their Cork Street Gallery. And His Majesty now has a number of those paintings in his own personal collection.
Fiji - Sunburst Over the Nausori Highlands, oil on canvas, 16 x 20" (41 x 51 cm)
This year is the 40th anniversary of His Majesty’s Tour Artists initiative. To mark this occasion, a selection of works from the King’s private collection were displayed this summer at Buckingham Palace. Cotton joined his fellow tour artists in July for the official opening of the exhibition, hosted by the King and Queen. The King’s Tour Artists featured more than 70 works, many of which have never been on public display. Artwork in the exhibition can also be viewed in the accompanying publication, The Art of Royal Travel: Journeys with The King. —
See more from the artist www.alancotton.co.uk