During her visit to Christie’s for the “Blue: Art for the Ocean” exhibition, Princess Eugenie showcased her deep passion for both art and marine conservation.
The exhibition features works from 35 global artists, set to be auctioned to raise funds for the Blue Marine Foundation.
Admiring the collection, Eugenie expressed her excitement, commenting, “It’s so cool,” as she viewed pieces like Marina Abramović’s Performance for the Oceans, a Lego creation by Ai Weiwei, and an oil painting by Peter Doig.
Before her visit, the Princess had spent time getting her sons, August, 3, and one-year-old Ernest, ready for the day, balancing motherhood with her role as Director at the art gallery Hauser & Wirth.
As part of a 15-member art committee working with the charity, Eugenie helped secure the donated artworks, with all proceeds going directly towards the foundation’s crucial efforts to protect the oceans.
“It’s been a year in the making,” she said. “And so coming into the gallery today and actually seeing all the art on the walls that this committee has spent a year doing, it’s really fantastic to see the hard work, but also the dedication from these artists.
“Artists now, they’re asked a lot to commit work to charity auctions. I think it’s a credit to them, but I also think it’s a credit to the charity and to Blue Marine for the work they do. You know, they really put their money, where their mouth is. They actually do the work that we all want to see. They protect the ocean. They create these Marine Protected Areas and you can actually see the biodiversity and the marine life coming back to life when these areas are protected.
“It was an honour to talk to the artists about Blue Marine Foundation. They were excited to hear about it and to be a part of it, so I’m very happy.”
The Princess divides her time between the UK and Portugal, where her husband Jack Brooksbank is based for work and where beach time is clearly precious to their young family.
“They love swimming,” the Princess says of her young sons. “The sea in Portugal’s a little bit rougher. So we’ve got our feet in, but Auggie is a fish. He literally loves it and we have whales and dolphins all across the walls. We’ve got a book called The World’s Wildest Waters, which is backed by Blue Marine Foundation – I see it every morning when Auggie’s eating breakfast, and he’s like, ‘Mama!’ and then we go through it. The children have to find the creatures in the pictures and the next page is all the facts about the cuttlefish, or the Great White shark or the seal. And Auggie loves it.”
