Alexander Creswell (born 1957) is an internationally celebrated artist known for his extraordinary fluency and technical skill in watercolour and his remarkable ability to capture 'the spirit of place'.  He is best known for the large series of watercolours commissioned by the Royal Collection to depict Windsor Castle after the Fire and Restoration in 1993 & 1997 respectively, published as a book “Out of the Ashes”. He is also known for his ground-breaking watercolours on a grand scale - the biggest ever painted.  Throughout his career he has received critical acclaim for his watercolours establishing himself as foremost in architectural painting and in recent years he has achieved huge success with his marine paintings alongside his more familiar architectural work.

Alexander was educated at Winchester College where his interest in Art flourished under the guidance of the late Grahame Drew.  He attended a Foundation Course at West Surrey College of Art & Design, Farnham but is otherwise largely self-taught having survived only a term and a half at the Byam Shaw, London. He owes his skills to analysing the work of past masters.

In 1991 his book "The Silent Houses of Britain" caught public imagination and critical attention establishing his career within the long tradition of British watercolourists.  This was followed by a series of major exhibitions with Spink & Son in London and in Hong Kong. Recognition of his work has brought important commissions, not only from The Royal Collection following the Windsor Castle fire, and HM Queen Elizabeth II to record the Lying in State of the Queen Mother, but also from the Frick Museum and Forbes Collection in New York, the Duchess of Northumberland to record the creation of the Alnwick Garden and work for the Parliamentary Art Collection amongst many others.

Creswell's fascination is 'the Spirit of Place' and beauty, whether it be in architecture and landscape or more recently at sea.  "He has an ability unique amongst his generation to capture both the appearance and the atmosphere of a building." HRH The Prince of Wales's forward to "Out of the Ashes".  His distinctive style in watercolour combines subtle colouring and skilful draughtsmanship with a strong reverence for natural light.  Throughout his career Creswell has consistently fought to bring watercolour to the forefront of academic painting whilst persistently exploring his medium, exploding the perceived boundaries of watercolour with incredible results. 

Creswell has travelled as official artist with the Prince of Wales and taught at the Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture, the Prince's Foundation and the ICA (Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America) in New York. He has painted extensively thoughout Italy with collections from Sicily, Venice, Turin, Rome and Lecce as well as in Britain, the USA, Europe, Russia, Egypt and the Middle East. He is preparing a publishing series on Italian architecture.

Creswell is a pioneer. In 2006 Creswell's 'Grand Scale' paintings were first exhibited in New York  demonstrating an unrivalled technical skill. Their impact was as great as their size.  In painting these vast works (up to nine feet, 3 metres long) Creswell was rebelling against the tradition of small scale watercolours.  He pushed his medium to new heights of experimentation and the results were described as “nothing short of extraordinary”. Creswell relishes the enormous technical challenges which these larger works present and finds the opportunity to paint on such a scale hugely liberating.  The results are breath-taking. Since then Alexander has continued to work on big paintings alongside his more traditionally sized watercolours.

Creswell exhibits regularly to critical acclaim in New York, London and the Dubai.  In 2010 he had major solo exhibitions in New York at Hirschl & Adler Galleries and in London at Portland Gallery.

Alexander Creswell is married and lives in Surrey with his wife and 3 children. 
 

 

1957 Born Helsinki, Finland

Education Winchester College, England

Byam Shaw School of Drawing & Painting, London

West Surrey College of Art & Design, Farnham

1991-99 Tutor at The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture, London

1998 Official Artist on HRH The Prince of Wales's Tour of Central Europe

 

Clubs and Associations:

Awarded the 2008 Arthur Ross Award for Excellence in the Classical Tradition (Fine Arts), New York

I.N.T.B.A.U. (International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism)

Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America, New York 

Art Workers' Guild, London

Port Navas Yacht Club, Cornwall, UK

Bentley Drivers Club

 

Public Exhibitions Include:

2003 Re-presenting Representation, Arnot Art Museum, New York

2002 Royal Treasures - A Golden Jubilee Celebration, The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London

2001 In Ruins - Artists & Ruins, The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath

1997 Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London

 

Solo Exhibitions Include:

2010 En Plein Air, Portland Gallery London

2010 Aqua Terra, Hirschl & Alder Galleries, New York

2009 Chasing the Breeze, Portland Gallery, London

2009 Oman, Art Dubai, Majilis Gallery, Dubai

2008 Venice Only, Portland Gallery, London

2008 Looking Through, Majlis Gallery, Dubai

2006 Watercolors on a Grand Scale, Hirschl & Alder Galleries, New York

2004 In Pursuit of Enlightenment - New Watercolors, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York

2002 Power & Glory - Sicilian Baroque, John Martin of London

2001 Reflections of New York, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York

2000 On Tour with the Prince, Watercolours & Drawings Fair, London/The British Council Touring Exhibition: Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania 

2000 Out of the Ashes - Watercolours of Windsor Castle, Windsor Castle 

1999 South-Western Approaches - The Cornish Sublime, New Academy Gallery, London

1998 Grange Park & Arcadia, Grange Park Opera, Hampshire

1997 In an Antique Land - Egypt, Spink-Leger Pictures, St. James's, London

1995 Hong Kong & China, Spink & Son at the China Club, Hong Kong

1994 Windsor Castle after the Fire and Russia & Imperial Europe, Spink & Son, St. James's, London

1992 Italy and Czechoslovakia, Cadogan Gallery, London

1991 The Silent Houses of Britain, Spink & Son, St. James's, London

Country Houses, Atlantic Hotel, Jersey

1990 Silent Houses - Working Drawings, Addison Ross Gallery, Chelsea, London

1989 A Selection of Watercolours, Arthur Andersen & Co., London 

1988 Interiors, Fine Art Trade Guild Gallery, London

1987 Silent Houses, The Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly, London

Lakes and Lake Designs, Jonathan Poole Gallery, London

1986 Country Houses, Addison Ross Gallery, London

1985 Paintings from Petra, Brussels Europa Hotel

Watercolours of South Africa, Addison Ross Gallery, London

1984 Jersey & the Channel Islands, Le Gallais Gallery, Jersey

A Tour of South Africa, Crake Gallery, Johannesburg

 

Group Exhibitions Include:

2002 A Select Seven, W.H. Patterson, London

2000 The Crown Estate, New Academy Gallery, London

1994 Venice in Peril (in aid of the Venice in Peril Fund), W.H. Patterson, London

1992 Enchanted Gardens (in aid of SAVE Britain's Heritage), Richmond Gallery, London

Follies (in aid of the Folly Fellowship), New Academy Gallery, London

 

Commissions Include:

The Royal Collection, Windsor After The Fire & After the Restoration

The Duchess of Northumberland, Alnwick Gardens Project 

HM The Queen, Lying in State of HM The Queen Mother 

The House of Lords, Lying in State of HM The Queen Mother 

Coutts Bank, 100th Birthday Gift to HM The Queen Mother

The Royal Collection, Windsor Castle after the fire of 1992

The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture

The Duchy of Cornwall

The Parliamentary Art Collection, Westminster

English Heritage

HSBC Middle East

Royal Bank of Scotland

The British School at Rome

British Broadcasting Corporation

GNI Ltd

Chartered Association of Certified Accountants

The London Capital Club

Speyhawk plc

British & Commonwealth

Guinness Peat

Glaxochem

Wiggins Teape

Burmah Castrol

Cawdor Castle Tourism

Numerous Private Commissions throughout Europe, the Americas and the Far East