Martin Yeoman (born 1953) is an English painter and draughtsman who drew members of the British Royal Family. He was commissioned to draw the Queen's grandchildren and accompanied

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, on overseas tours as tour artist. He is described as one of the finest draughtsmen working today and is a member of Senior Faculty at the

Royal Drawing School The Royal Drawing School is a not-for-profit educational organisation and registered charity in the London Borough of Hackney in England. It was founded in 2000 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and artist Catherine Goodman as The Prin ...

Early life and education

Yeoman was born in Surrey in 1953. In 1973, Yeoman sold his drawings in India and Pakistan before returning to England to attend art school. He was Peter Greenham's guest student at the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

. Yeoman's work was first discovered by the Art Collector Sir Brinsley Ford at the premiums exhibition of second year students' work. Yeoman won the Silver Medal for Drawing, the David Murray Landscape Scholarship, and the Richard Ford Scholarship which allowed him to study abroad in Spain.

Career

In 1983, Christopher Wall of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

gave Yeoman the chance to paint

Basildon Park Basildon Park is a country house situated 2 miles (3 kilometres) south of Goring-on-Thames and Streatley in Berkshire, between the villages of Upper Basildon and Lower Basildon. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed buil ...

and Ashdown House. Yeoman was later commissioned for other paintings by the National Trust's Foundation for Art. In November 1986, Yeoman accompanied

, on an official tour of the Gulf States to teach the prince to paint. A few months later, Yeoman returned to the Gulf States under the sponsorship of Sheikh Khalifa of Qatar. The trip also included visiting North Yemen. Yeoman was invited by

on further official tours, one to Hong Kong in November 1989 and India and Nepal in February 1992. July 1988, Yeoman was commissioned by

HM Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

to create a drawing of physiologist and biophysicist Sir Alan Hodgkin OM, the portrait of which forms part of a series depicting members of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

. In 1992, he was commissioned by the Royal Household to draw the grandchildren of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

to honour the 40th anniversary of her reign. The drawings were later shown on the Royal Landing at the National Portrait Gallery in 1993. The drawings are now housed in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

. His painting, ''

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buil ...

'', created in 1994, is housed in the collection of

Mompesson House Mompesson House is an 18th-century house located in the Cathedral Close, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. The house is Grade I listed. and has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1975. History The Mompesson family had lived in Wilts ...

in Wiltshire. Yeoman's painting of Sir James Whyte Black was commissioned by The National Portrait Gallery in 1994 for their permanent collection. In 1996, Yeoman worked in Yemen on a series of etchings to be used in Tim Mackintosh-Smith's first book ''Yemen: travels in Dictionary Land.'' The British Council organised an exhibition of Yeoman's work in the capital

Sanaa Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Go ...

. In 2002, Yeoman was commissioned to paint Mathew Sheeran and

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

, his painting 'Ed Sheeran 2002' was included in the 2019 exhibition "Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk". The British Museum exhibition titled '''Yemen, Solomon & Sheba''' included Yeoman's drawing titled '''A man from Taizz, 1996. The subject is of a figure drawn from life within the old city of Sanaa,

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

. The drawing is held within collection of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

. His painting of D-Day pilot Laurence 'Laurie' Weeden was commissioned by

, for the exhibition "The Last of the Tide" at the

Queen's Gallery The Queen's Gallery is the main public art gallery of Buckingham Palace, home of the British monarch, in London. It exhibits works of art from the Royal Collection (the bulk of which works have since its opening been regularly displayed, so ...

in Buckingham Palace. One of Yeoman's self-portraits was bought by the

Ruth Borchard Ruth Borchard (1910–2000) was a British writer who created a collection of self-portraits made by 100 modern British artists, the Ruth Borchard Collection. A notable work of Borchard's was ''John Stuart Mill: the Man''. Early and personal li ...

Collection in 2016. Yeoman occasionally teaches drawing and painting at the

and is an elected member of the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and ...

and

Royal Society of Portrait Painters The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a charity based at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, London that promotes the practice and appreciation of portraiture. Its Annual Exhibition of portraiture is held at Mall Galleries, and it runs a commissio ...

. Yeoman won the

Ondaatje Prize The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someon ...

for portraiture in 2002 and the Doreen McIntosh Prize in 2016.

Work in Collections

* Queen Elizebeth II *

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

* Sir Brinsley Ford * Diocese of Birmingham * Baring Brothers * Grimsby School of Art * National Portrait Gallery *

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh la ...

* Ruth Borchard Collection 2015

Selected exhibitions

* 1976-1977 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition * 1979-1990 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition * 1981 Imperial Tobacco Portrait Award (National Portrait Gallery) * 1985 Imperial Tobacco Portrait Award (National Portrait Gallery) * 1985 Six Young Artists (Agnews) * 1986 Highgate Gallery * 1987 Two Tours of the Middle East (Agnews) * 1987 Four Painters (New Grafton Gallery) * 1987 The Long Perspective (National Trust Exhibition, Agnews) * 1988 A Personal Choice (Fermoy Gallery) * 1989 Salute to Turner (National Trust Exhibition, Agnews) * 1990 New Grafton Gallery * 1992-1996 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition * 1992 The Order of Merit (National Portrait Gallery) * 1993 The Queen's Grandchildren (National Portrait Gallery) * 1994 Selected Works (Mompesson House National Trust) * 1995 Christopher Wood Contemporary Art * 1997 Yeoman's Yemen (British Council exhibition National Art Gallery Sana'a and John Martin of London) * 2000 Paintings in the Holy Land (Alan Kluckow Fine Art) * 2002 Hindustan to Malabar (Offer Waterman and Co) * 2004 India (Indar Pasricha Fine Art) * 2015 The Last of the Tide (Queen's Gallery Buckingham Palace) * 2016 BP Portrait Award (Nat Portrait Gallery)

Bibliography as illustrator

* * * *

References

External links

Martin Yeoman's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeoman, Martin 1953 births Living people English portrait painters People from Surrey Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools British male painters Draughtsmen British contemporary artists 20th-century English artists 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters 20th-century British male artists 21st-century British male artists