Art in the field
Equestrian painter Charles Church is patronised by some of racing’s top owners, but success didn’t come easily, as Janet Menzies discovers
IT IS three-quarters of a century since Alfred Munnings called for artists to paint a sky that looked like a sky, yet life still remains difficult for equestrian painters who want to make figurative work. Admiring the seeming ease of Charles Church’s painterly brushstrokes, you might imagine a straightforward transition from art school to professional artist. This was definitely not the case, as Church admits: “It was a massive struggle in the early days because I couldn’t get any training. The tutors at that time had all been at art school in the 1960s, when life drawing was basically banned, so they couldn’t draw from life themselves, much less teach it.”
Many contemporary sporting artists recall the same issue. Church reflects: “I used to get worked up about style and a lot of young artists do try to find their expression, but I have realised you have to let it come naturally. I love painters from the early 20th century, and I want to concentrate on drawing out the beauty of the subject in front of me.” That subject is usually the horse, although Church didn’t grow up with horses. “I was about 15 or 16 and very much enjoyed art, and at the same time discovered a passion for horse racing,” he remembers. “I started looking at horses closely and drawing them. I didn’t think I could make a living at it, but I just stuck with it. I went on an art foundation course at Newcastle University, where we did textile design and graphics and so on. I wanted to specialise in fine art, but they wouldn’t let me.”
Church realised he would have to go it alone: “So I moved to Newmarket and got a job washing up dishes and painted racehorses in the afternoons.” It turned out that horse racing’s HQ is as good a training ground for artists as it is for racehorses. “I met the late Neil Cawthorne, whose equestrian art I admire, and he was really helpful to me. I was able to spend time in his studio and get an idea of the business – because I really had no idea of how an artist operated.”
Eventually Church heard about the Charles Cecil studio in Florence, where sporting artist Sue Crawford had studied: “I managed to contact them and they said to just turn up.” Church, then about 21 years old, had recently had an exhibition in Newmarket: “It was an absolute disaster – I sold about three of the 30 paintings.” But the gallery sportingly bought up Church’s stock, giving him enough money to get to Italy, where he was able to become a studio assistant. “As an assistant, you did everything from helping teach the lifedrawing classes to mopping the floors. The atelier system like this really dates from Renaissance times.
“After two years, I decided that I had to start making a career.” So like every equestrian artist from Ferneley and Stubbs onwards, Church had to find some commissions. “Luckily friends in Florence had parents with hunters, so I began painting hunters.” It was back in England, now based in Lambourn, that Church’s breakthrough moment came: “I was commissioned by the trainer Kim Bailey to paint the Grand National winner Mr Frisk. That painting moved me on from hunters to racehorses.” Gradually Church began to attract attention, and eventually he felt he was ready for it: “I purposefully didn’t push to get lots of commissions to paint racehorses until I felt my painting was good enough – it was about quality control.”
This commitment to producing the best work paid dividends for Church as he began to exhibit and be patronised by racing’s major owners, including the Coolmore operation and the Aga Khan. Now his work is recognised and admired, with London exhibitions always a sell-out (unlike that very first one). A Church is as distinctive as a Munnings or a Ferneley – an artist he admires. Church explains: “There is a lot you can learn from looking at those early equestrian artists, especially in composition. I made the mistake early on in my career when clients wanted everything in a painting – the dogs, the house, the family – and it never worked.”
That’s a trick that perhaps only Thomas Gainsborough could pull off, but Church’s style takes into account the need to portray the horse above all, though he adds: “I realised that to be a good equestrian artist, you also need to be a good landscape artist. Munnings is a great example of this.” And so the conversation comes full circle: Munnings wanted beautiful skies to continue to be painted, and Church has certainly met that demand.
Charles Church is exhibiting ‘Pastures New’ at Gallery 8, Duke Street, in London’s West End from 21-26 November.
Visit: charleschurch.net
I got a job washing up dishes and painted racehorses in the afternoons