The Prince admits that he turned to watercolor because he found photography “less than satisfying.”
If you are a fan of Prince Charles and find yourself in Westminster, London from now until the next month, you might want to head over to Chelsea Barracks.
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There, 79 of the royal’s watercolor landscapes, the biggest display put of works by the 73-year-old heir to the British throne. They are at Garrison Chapel, the public exhibition space of The Prince’s Foundation, which, according to its site, also shows the work of the charity, its students, and graduates.
“His Royal Highness has said before that he likes to sit in the actual environment and paint en plein air, and that, for him, taking a photograph doesn’t have the same feel as a painting,” explains exhibition curator Rosie Alderton, adding that the Prince’s passion for creating beautiful art is conveyed strongly in these works.
According to Prince Charles’ official website, he is a “a keen watercolourist and paints whenever his schedule allows. Lithographs of his paintings have been sold with proceeds going to The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation.”
A description panel displayed alongside his works at Garrison Chapel has the Royal explaining his interest in the craft.
“I took up painting entirely because I found photography less than satisfying,” he admits. “Quite simply, I experienced an overwhelming urge to express what I saw through the medium of watercolour and to convey that almost ‘inner’ sense of texture which is impossible to achieve via photography.”
While he was “appalled” by his first sketches, the Prince nevertheless persisted.
“The great thing about painting is that you are making your own individual interpretation of whatever view you have chosen,” he admits. “Because it obliges you to sit down and make a careful observation of the selected subject, you discover so much more about it than by just pointing a camera and arriving at a result which is probably almost identical to somebody else’s photograph.”
The works on display show mostly European landscapes, from French mountains to the Welsh countryside. Swiss resort towns such as Saint Moritz and Klosters as well as the Le Barroux chateau in France are also included.
The gallery is open all-week long, and will run until February 14 apart from certain blocked off dates. Admission is free.
Banner Photo from @the_garrison_chapel on IG
