WITHOUT Francesco del Giocondo there would be no Mona Lisa, and Michelangelo depended on Lorenzo de’ Medici during his career. For centuries princes have known that even those who are not great artists themselves can still be a vital part of the process of making art. While he was Prince of Wales, HM King Charles III was an active patron of the arts, and as he begins his reign, art remains a priority.
Foremost will be his involvement with the huge royal legacy of artworks gathered under the organisation of the Royal Collection. At the Royal Collection Trust, spokesman Lily Spicer explains: “The Royal Collection became more widely accessible during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and this increased access continues to broaden today. His Majesty The King has always taken a keen interest in the work of the Royal Collection Trust – he served as our chairman for many years when Prince of Wales. For example, last year he commissioned a set of portraits by contemporary artists of Holocaust survivors, which are now part of the Royal Collection, and for his 70th birthday he curated his own selection of artworks from the Collection.”
One of The King’s first official engagements after his accession took him up to his beloved Scotland to open the newly refurbished Burrell Collection, part of the Glasgow Museums. At about the same time, a limited-edition print of a watercolour of Balmoral, painted by him when Prince of Wales, was auctioned by Bonhams in its Scottish Home sale, raising about 10 times its estimate. Hamish Wilson of Bonhams praised “The King’s passion for painting and his deep affection for Scotland”.
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