British Artist, Alan Cotton MBE, has been with his London Gallery, David Messum Fine Art for over thirty years and has had twenty-seven one man shows in their West End Galleries. This summer, however, Alan’s work will appear in an even more prestigious London venue.
His Majesty King Charles has, for many years, taken a tour artist with him when he travels abroad and Alan was honoured to be chosen as one of those artists, when, as Prince of Wales, he visited Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
Alan says, “I had just arrived home from a holiday in St Lucia, and switched on my answerphone 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.”
The final message said that as the tour date was only two weeks away, they needed an immediate response. Alan wasted no time in picking up the phone to say that he would be honoured to join the Prince of Wales as his tour artist.
Within two weeks, bags packed with all the necessary outfits for a Royal Tour and his painting gear, Alan arrived at St James’s Palace, and then on to RAF Brize Norton, for the flight to Columbo, capital of Sri Lanka. Then followed an hour’s helicopter trip to Batticaloa, the site of a devastating tsunami, the previous December.
Alan recalls, “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. 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 their ease and communicates easily – a great skill.”
In Australia, the Royal party visited five locations, Perth, Alice Springs, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, with short stays in each, yet still time for Alan to do a series of drawings, as they travelled around. He was particularly impressed with the botanical gardens in Melbourne.
In the capital, Canberra, one of the high spots 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. Alan 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.”
On to New Zealand, and in Dunedin Alan 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. Here at Taiaroa, what excited him most, however, were the albatrosses, soaring above the cliffs, riding the thermals, and then sweeping down to sea level. Alan was allowed to stay on and work there. He said, “To see these graceful birds, with a wingspan of three metres, gliding along the cliff tops and being lifted by the thermals, was a joyful experience.” The swirling waters below, also inspired Alan to draw and paint them.
The landscape of Fiji was particularly inspiring, and provided a rich source of material,
Alan was given a driver, who took him to his own village, in the mountains. Here he did many drawings including the driver’s tethered ox.
Alan said, “The weather was stormy, but there were brilliant passages of sun, when the landscape came to life and from my watercolours and drawings, I made a great number of paintings back in my studio in Colaton Raleigh, in Devon.”
Despite the hectic schedule, of Alan’s tour with the then Prince of Wales, he managed to gather a wealth of material and the following autumn, all the paintings from the tour were exhibited at David Messum Fine Art, in their Cork Street Gallery, in London. His Majesty now has a number of those paintings in his own personal collection.
In 2025 it is forty years, since His Majesty the King, when Prince of Wales, first took a tour artist with him, to record impressions of the trip. The King owns paintings from the tour artists, and to mark this anniversary, a selection of work from these, will be on exhibition in Buckingham Palace ballroom. On 9th July, Alan joined other tour artists at a reception hosted by the King and Queen, for the official opening of the exhibition’, which will be part of the tour of the state rooms, when the palace opens to the public, from 10th July to 28th September 202 Tickets can be booked online at.
Alan Cotton was invited to represent the Arts in the South-West, when her Majesty the Queen visited Exeter in her Diamond Jubilee year, and was also nominated as an icon by the Duke of Edinburgh Award Trustees, where, at two dinners, at Windsor Castle hosted by the Earl of Wessex, (now Duke of Edinburgh), Alan, together with many celebrities, from showbusiness, the arts and sports, raised very substantial sums for this worthy charity. He was awarded an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours, which was presented to him by His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle.
Paintings from all the countries to which Alan Cotton has travelled are on his website www.alancotton.co.uk. An online show of his latest work is being staged throughout the summer and autumn, on www.messums.com. Paintings are also available to view in person, at David Messum Fine Art, 12, Bury Street, St James, London SW1Y 6AB Tel. 020 7287 4448