Coronation Procession Returning to Buckingham Palace

Carel Weight (1908 - 1997)

Oil on canvas

June 1953

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© Crown copyright, UK Government Art Collection

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection

    As the Golden State Coach travels through Carel Weight’s painting of the coronation procession of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953, we see the hundreds of spectators lining the route. The red jackets and distinctive black hats of the Coldstream Guards form a line in front of the coach, while the Queen Victoria Memorial dominates the mid distance.


    Weight captures the moment when the Queen returned from her coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. The weather, which had been especially gloomy that day, did not deter the waiting crowds who remained resolutely upbeat. Weight was one of a number of artists (including Dame Laura Knight, Edwin La Dell and Feliks Topolski) who were commissioned by the then Ministry of Works to record the Coronation. 


    Like Stanley Spencer, a painter who he much admired, Weight was part of an English narrative tradition that captured scenes of life, often with a sense of heightened emotion. His views of suburban life were sometimes inspired by topical news subjects for example, paintings alluding to tragedies such as a fun-fair accident in Battersea Park. He also painted religious scenes - among his several commissions was a large mural for Manchester Cathedral. 


    Carel Weight was born in London, where he studied at Hammersmith College of Art (1928 -1930), and at Goldsmiths College (1931-1933). He was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1931 and held his first solo show in 1934 at the Cooling Galleries, London.  As an Official War Artist during the Second World War, he produced many works while posted in Austria, Italy and Greece. After the War he taught at the Royal College of Art, becoming Professor of Painting in 1957. He was awarded a CBE in 1962, was elected a Royal Academician in 1965 and a Companion of Honour in 1995.
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  • Details
    Title
    Coronation Procession Returning to Buckingham Palace
    Date
    June 1953
    Medium
    Oil on canvas
    Dimensions
    height: 88.50 cm, width: 112.00 cm
    Acquisition
    Commissioned from the artist via the Royal College of Art, April 1953
    Inscription
    tr: Carel Weight / June 1953
    GAC number
    2510