Richard Foster PPRP

Richard Foster

Richard Foster was born in 1945 and brought up in Norfolk. He was educated at Harrow School, Studio Simi and the British Institute in Florence, Trinity College Oxford and the City and Guilds of London Art School; not forgetting the influence of his friends and contemporaries!  He has been a Member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters since 1976, and has been on the Council and Hon Treasurer at various times, Vice President between 1991 and 1994.  In a longish career, Richard Foster has tried to be as diverse as possible. He has painted a great variety of pictures in both oil and watercolour, not just single portraits and family groups, but also landscapes and compositions which he shows in his one man exhibitions every three or four years. His work tends towards understatement, but in the words of Francis Russell, head of Old Masters at Christie’s, “His pictures wear well”.

Richard was elected to the post of President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2017.  “It is a real privilege to stand in the footsteps of great portrait painters such as Sir William Open, Augustus John and John Ward,” says Richard. “As President, I will strive to ensure that we encourage and attract truly outstanding portraits in order to continue our tradition of excellence in this genre.”

Honouring Diana, Princess of Wales

RP member and past president Richard Foster and other members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters shared portraits of Diana, Princess of Wales to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her death. 

Diana Princess of Wales (1986) was painted in oil by Richard Foster PRP in the Drawing Room at Kensington Palace.

"In a statement, Richard Foster PRP says: “Time flies and it is 31 years since this portrait of the Princess of Wales (above) was painted for The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow after she took over as Patron from Princess Alexandra.

Sittings took place in the Drawing Room at Kensington Palace and were spread over several months. She was very young at the time and I tried to bring out the youth and shyness. I will never forget meeting her, she was so beautifully turned out."

Read more about it here