A British artist famous for his royal portraits has claimed Jonathan Yeo’s controversial painting of the King does not capture ‘the real Charles’.
Alexander Talbot-Rice said the dramatic red tone did not convey His Majesty’s ‘very gentle and intelligent’ character – suggesting it was instead designed to cause a stir.
MailOnline can exclusively reveal the 55-year-old’s latest painting of the King, which begun over a decade ago when Mr Talbot-Rice was invited to Balmoral for a sitting.
King Charles this week unveiled his first official portrait since the coronation, which was painted by Mr Yeo over several sittings.
Artist Jonathan Yeo’s ‘fiery’ portrait of King Charles was unveiled by the monarch on Monday
Alexander Talbot-Rice unveiled his portrait (pictured) of the King in a video shared with MailOnline
Alexander Talbot-Rice, who is famous for painting Royals, said Yeo’s unconventional painting does not capture the King’s ‘very gentle and intelligent’ character
King Charles and Jonathan Yeo at the unveiling of the portrait in the blue drawing room at Buckingham Palace
It was met with a mixed response online however, with some hailing its originality while others suggested the overriding red hue looked like the King was ‘in hell’.
Even the artist himself – who taught himself how to paint while recovering from cancer – has admitted not everyone would love his ‘fiery’ portrait.
Last night, Mr Talbot-Rice told MailOnline: ‘Although I have a lot of respect for some of Jonathan’s work, I think this one is slightly sensational, in terms of it being a portrait that has been designed to be controversial, rather than convey the character of the subject.’
Mr Talbot-Rice became famous for his own royal portraits after painting the late Queen Elizabeth II for her Golden Jubilee in 2005, as well as Prince Philip.
After serving as official war artist with the British Army in Afghanistan, he was invited on his return in 2013 to Balmoral for a sitting with the King, who was then the Prince of Wales.
He said: ‘I’m very fond of the King. I remember him as a very gentle and intelligent human being and to me that’s not conveyed in this portrait’.
The artist told how over the years he begun to suffer from presbyopia – the loss of the eyes’ ability to focus on nearby objects – that made his work far harder.
King Charles III greets artist Jonathan Yeo at the unveiling of the portrait this week
King Charles III prepares to unveil the painting at Buckingham Palace in London this week
King Charles unveils his portrait by artist Jonathan Yeo, at Buckingham Palace
The painting is revealed for the first time by King Charles at Buckingham Palace this week
Mr Talbot-Rice became famous for painting Royal portraits such as the painting his painting of the late Queen Elizabeth II for her Golden Jubilee in 2005 (pictured)
Picture shows Alexander Talbot-Rice’s portrait of Prince Philip
This year, he underwent surgery at EuroEyes’ flagship clinic for laser eye surgery in Hamburg under its founder Dr Jørn Slot Jørgensen to restore his eyesight.
Now with near 20/20 vision again, he has returned to finish his painting of the King over a decade later. It is currently being framed and he intends to gift it to his majesty.
Creating what he believes ‘is the best painting I’ve ever done’, he joked: ‘I would be very happy to refer Jonathan Yeo to my eye surgeon’.
Mr Talbot-Rice said: ‘I’m not going to make a value statement about whether Jonathan’s painting is good or bad. I’m just going to say that my perception of him was different.
‘Having a very red background conveys a certain kind of psychological statement that I don’t recognise in Charles.
King Charles III is pictured greeting Sir Philip Mould at the unveiling on Monday
A portrait by Jonathan Yeo of Queen Camilla in 2014 when she was Duchess of Cornwall
A portrait released by Jonathan Yeo in 2008 of Prince Philip, who died in April 2021
The painting was completed by the renowned artist Jonathan Yeo (pictured in London in 2018)
‘It might have an expressionist quality, but the duty of an artist is to be a prism through which we convey something about the person that we’re painting.’
He said his more traditional style focused on green hues for the background, which he said was intended to reflect the King’s love of nature.
Mr Yeo’s work, which is 7.5ft by 5ft, was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then Prince of Wales’s 50 years as a member of the Drapers’ Company.
Speaking previously about how it would be received, Mr Yeo said: ‘There’s always people who will disagree with you on how to paint these things.
‘People may not agree with how I’ve done it but it’s a bit different from the other royal portraits I’ve seen.’
He said the bright red colours were part of that, explaining: ‘I was playing with this idea of mysticism. We still buy into the idea of the royal family being a bit different from us in some way.’
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