"There is an extraordinary list of ‘these places’ in Houghton’s story. He has become known as a consummate artist in residence, having undertaken residential commissions not only for the royals but for Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the RAF centenary, the Falklands 40th anniversary, the America’s Cup, London Fashion Week, Goodwood and the James Hunt estate, among others. His very first residency was in South Africa, where he started out teaching art".
Greg Fountain - ICONIC Magazine
Entrused with keys to palaces, sporting arenas and rugged outposts, Jeremy Houghton, born in 1974, is an internationally recognised British contemporary painter who works primarily in the mediums of oil and watercolour.
His residencies, which have spanned two decades, include royal, military and well known sporting events, from being artist in residence for HM Queen Elizabeth II to the Wimbledon Championships, America's Cup and at the 2012 London Olympics. The figurative scenes in Houghton’s compositions are deeply rooted in his interest in capturing light, movement and time and, equally important to him, the spaces where his subjects either linger or move, evoking a suggestion to the viewer of capturing a fleeting moment in time. This defining style of Houghton’s is vividly encapsulated in his ongoing signature series of flamingo paintings, which began during his time in-residence at Kamfer’s Dam, South Africa, in 2004. It was on invitation by the Oppenheimer family (de Beers), who opened the gates to their private game reserves. His paintings he created were used to raise awareness of these endangered birds. A recent visit to the Kalahari Desert inspired a new collection, elevated with gold leaf as a comment on the rarity of the species.
Graduating with a law degree in 1996, he went on to study art at the Slade School of Fine Art and then at the Université de Provence, before becoming Head of Art at the International School of Cape Town, where he taught for five years. Following his teaching and, upon returning to the UK, he undertook a postgraduate diploma and MA in Fine Art at the University of Gloucestershire, completing his further studies in 2017.
In 2009 Houghton was commissioned to paint HM Queen Elizabeth II, and it was then that his reputation as a collected artist gathered prominence. Following a solo exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, London in 2010, his standing was cemented on the international art scene. Exhibitions at the Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg and at the Visual Arts Gallery in Delhi followed respectively. His noted skill at depicting movement and light within a figurative framework subsequently lead to his selection as one of the Official BT Olympic artists for London 2012.
In 2013 Houghton was invited to be Artist-in-Residence at Highgrove, the Royal Estate for the then Prince of Wales. Here, he produced a series of monochromatic watercolours, capturing the spirit of the house and its Home Farm. Later that year, he became Tour Artist for the Aston Martin Centenary Tour of Europe, driving with the Tour each day and painting captured scenes in the evening whilst still fresh in his mind. These watercolours are now held in private collections around the world. In 2014 the Ashmolean Museum in Broadway staged a 10-year retrospective of his paintings in its contemporary art space. Then in 2015 Houghton received another Royal appointment from HM Queen Elizabeth II as Artist-in-Residence at the Windsor Castle estate, providing opportunities to depict scenes of everyday life in the castle, its grounds and, most notably, the stables and mews where he captured iconic images of Her Majesty with her beloved horses. Following on from his time at Windsor Castle, the demand for his work garnered further residencies at Goodwood House under the auspices of Lord March and at the 2017 Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Other highly regarded residences continue to this day, icluding presently a two-year residency at The Vatican with the Swiss Guard.
His work is held in numerous private collections both at home and abroad and he is represented by galleries across the world.