In the biggest exhibition of its watercolors to this day, the painting enthusiast, prince charles, described the restorative benefits of art, saying that it “transports you to another dimension”.
The heir to the British throne stressed that painting is “one of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercises I know”, adding that his hobby “refreshes parts of the soul that other activities cannot reach”.
The comments appear on an exhibition panel in a new show that brings together 79 landscape paintings by the prince. On display in London until mid-February, the works depict scenes from the French countryside, the Scottish Highlands and Tanzania, which is “one of the prince’s favorite places to paint”, according to a press release from his institution. educational charity, The Prince’s Foundation.
“I started painting entirely because I found photography less than satisfying,” he says on the panel. “I simply felt an irresistible urge to express what I saw through watercolor and convey that almost ‘inner’ feeling of texture that is impossible to achieve through photography.”
Like his great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria I, the prince is an “interested watercolorist” who “paints whenever his schedule allows,” according to his official website. He regularly portrays the estates of the royal family, including Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, and has also produced watercolors in Turkey, Nepal and the Swiss Alps.
In the text of the exhibition, the prince admitted that he is “shocked at how bad” his first works were.
“I’m not under the illusion that my sketches represent great art or burgeoning talent,” he added. “They represent, more than anything else, my particular form of ‘photo album’ and, as such, they mean a lot to me.”
Although the prince does not sell his watercolors, lithographs of his works are used to raise money for his charity fund. In 2016, the UK’s Daily Telegraph reported that he had sold approximately £2 million ($2.7 million) from a shop in Highgrove House.
In 1994, Britain’s Royal Mail featured landscape paintings of Charles on a series of postage stamps marking 25 years since the ceremony that formally recognized him as Prince of Wales. The National Gallery of Australia also exhibited several of his works in 2018 to mark its 70th anniversary. Two decades earlier, on his 50th birthday, some 50 of his watercolors were displayed at Hampton Court Palace, the residence of his ancestor Henry VIII.
In a press release, the curator of the new London exhibition, Rosie Alderton, said the prince “enjoys sitting in the royal setting and painting ‘en plein air’”, adding: “His passion for creating fine art is conveyed strongly. in this exhibition.”
The watercolors are displayed in the Garrison Chapel in Chelsea Barracks, a converted army barracks in London’s upscale Belgravia neighborhood. Also on display is a tapestry based on one of the prince’s paintings, “Abandoned Cottage on Stroma Island,” which took eight months to complete by weaver Ben Hymers.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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