The Royals are in the news again. Although a healthy birth is always welcome, we're more excited about The Royal Paintbox Exhibition, on now at the Royal Collection Trust in London until January 2014. It seems that inbetween civic duties, many royals have found the time to develop their artistic sides. The exhibition features work by 15 personalities ranging from George III to HRH the Prince of Wales. We were (of course) most taken with Queen Victoria's watercolours pictured here.
Victoria began painting at 8 under the guidance of Richard Westall. She often sketched directly from nature and was influenced strongly by her second tutor, the Scottish landscape painter William Leighton Leitch who taught her for 22 years. Spending time sketching and painting was a private pastime and a tonic for her grief after the death of Prince Albert. There is something very intimate about Victoria's landscapes, allowing us to see through her eyes the hills surrounding her beloved Balmoral.
If, like us, you can't make it to see these works in person, the RCT website is quite accommodating; you'll even see an early equine piece by Her Majesty Elizabeth II.
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