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Teddy Millington-Drake

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Edgar Louis Mackay Vanderstegen Millington-Drake (5 July 1932 - 5 September 1994), usually known as Teddy Millington-Drake, was an English artist, known mainly for his watercolour paintings but also abstract work in oils. He was an aesthete in all spheres of his life, and a passionate traveller.

Early life

Millington-Drake was born in London, England, on 5 July 1932. His parents were the diplomat Sir Eugen Millington-Drake, a noted eccentric, and his wife Lady Effie Mackay, a daughter of James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape, Chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. His father's career meant that Teddy, his fourth child, travelled from an early age. He had visited Buenos Aires and Paris by the age of one, and spent his early years in Uruguay, where his father was British Minister between 1934-1941. There were many trips between Uruguay and the United Kingdom during those years.[1]

Whilst Millington-Drake's early childhood abroad had been happy and privileged, he disliked the experience of the British preparatory school system. He had already developed an interest in sketching and painting, inspired by the fashion sketches supplied to his mother so that she could order her clothes from Worth in Paris. Later he thrived at Eton College, like his father before him. At Eton he took a great interest in art and was supervised by Wilfrid Blunt, the art historian.[1]

Adulthood

After Eton, Millington-Drake went up to Oxford University before joining the Rifle Brigade to serve out his National Service. He spent some time posted in Egypt during the Suez Crisis, where he became a close friend of James Mossman. He made friends easily throughout his life, and his friends and relations were an important part of his life.[1] He was always a generous but sometimes distracted host.[2]

Nicky Haslam describes Millington-Drake at this time as "the prettiest dark-eyed and curl-haired faun, with an enchanting lisp".[3] After completing his National Service in the Rifle Brigade and in part inspired by his sister's anecdotes of her travels abroad, Millington-Drake embarked on a painting tour that took him to the Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Syria. He was aided by his father's connections, which meant that diplomats abroad would often be pleased to see him, but he spent a great deal of time alone too, painting in hotel rooms or in the open air. Jonathan Hope, who wrote Millington-Drake’s obituary in The Independent notes that "He loved this part of the world: the soukhs, the street life, the sounds and colours, and was dazzled by the power and simplicity of Islamic architecture".[1]

Millington-Drake rented a house, the Villa Albrizzi at Este in the Veneto.[4] He started painting more regularly, particularly during this period, abstract murals. He befriended Freya Stark, the travel writer who lived nearby, and in Venice he became friends with Daisy Fellowes, Peggy Guggenheim, Barbara Hutton and Elsa Maxwell. He was influenced by, and in turn himself influenced, Bruce Chatwin, who was another writer and traveller. Chatwin often stayed with him at Este[1] and at Teddy’s other houses abroad; the pair had first met when they were in their twenties.[2][5]

A trip around the Greek islands resulted in Millington-Drake discovering Patmos, which left a deep impression on him. He bought two 17th-century houses there in 1963, in the village of Chora, and set about building works that converted these houses into an enchanting, relaxing environment, complete with a studio, that was greatly admired by the many friends who came to stay.[1] The house, remodelled under the direction of the interior designer John Stefanidis, was run with the assistance of several members of staff.[2] It featured often in magazines and caught the eye of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whom Millington-Drake promptly invited to lunch.[6]

Millington-Drake travelled to Easter Island to paint the stone statues in 1987 for an exhibition which he had been wanting to do for years. His house in Italy was his base until his death on 5 September 1994. It was an old, converted farmhouse at Monti in Chianti near Siena, Tuscany.[1][7] Millington-Drake fell seriously ill but nonetheless managed to fulfill his wish to die at his house on Patmos. He was buried after a service at the Convent of Zoodochou Pigi, which he had supported for many years.[8]

Art

Some of Millington-Drake's art is in public collections, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum.[9] His range of subject matter was as eclectic as his choice of materials. Although he worked in various paint mediums, including acrylics, his watercolours are particularly admired and were exhibited in many cities including Bombay and New York, as well as London. There was a particularly successful exhibition in London of watercolours of India and Ladakh held in 1982. Hope notes that "Viewed retrospectively his pictures form a seductive narrative of travels spanning more than 30 years, in search of some romantic and melancholy ideal".[1]

London's Lefevre Gallery mounted a tribute titled “Travels with Teddy Millington-Drake : a memorial exhibition" that ran from 7–27 November 1996.[10] A limited subscription edition of a memorial book was also published in that year, titled Shapes on the Horizon; it included tributes from friends such as Bruce Chatwin, Diana Melly and Felicity Sutherland and others.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hope, Jonathan (12 September 1994). "Obituary: Teddy Millington-Drake". The Independent. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Clapp, Susannah (2012). With Chatwin: Portrait of a Writer. Random House. pp. 139–141. ISBN 978-1-44811-244-9.
  3. ^ Haslam, Nicholas (2010). Redeeming Features: A Memoir. Vintage Books. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-09954-623-8.
  4. ^ "A four day visit to the magnificent city of Vicenza and to the finest villas of the Veneto and gardens of the area" (PDF). FAI. p. 3. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  5. ^ Shakespeare, Nicholas (2010). Bruce Chatwin. Random House. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-40707-433-7.
  6. ^ Bradford, Sarah (2001). America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Reprinted, revised ed.). Penguin UK. p. 668. ISBN 978-0-14026-410-4.
  7. ^ "An Artist in Tuscany". theartoftheroom.com. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  8. ^ Melly, Diana (2005). Take A Girl Like Me. Chatto & Windus. pp. 219–222. ISBN 0-7011-7906-6.
  9. ^ "V&A Search the Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Travels with Teddy". Yale Center for British Art. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  11. ^ "(MILLINGTON-DRAKE, Teddy)". Elysium Press. Retrieved 13 October 2018.

Further reading

  • {{cite book |title=Under The Sun: The Letters of Bruce Chatwin |first1=Bruce |last1=Chatwin |authorlink1=Bruce Chatwin |first2=Elizabeth |last2=Chatwin |first3=Nicholas |last3=Shakespeare |authorlink3=Nicholas Shakespeare |publisher=Random House |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-40709-242-3}

• (2010). An Island Sanctuary: A House in Greece. Rizzoli International Publications. ISBN 978-0847833184.

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