In 1998, James Hart Dyke was chosen to accompany Prince Charles as an official artist on his Royal Tours. He was asked to repeat this role the following year, and again in 2007 and 2008. It was during this first trip that James first glimpsed Everest from the window of the small plane carrying the Prince and his future King.
Since those early visits to the Himalayas in the early 2000s, the theme of mountains and wilderness has continued to grow, fuelling his creativity and curiosity. By combining painting and mountaineering, he discovered that "my landscapes are actually ways of interpreting space. It's a central element of my painting, but I never mention it. Even my most abstract and graphic works generally revolve around a play with space."
This same graphic sensibility, present in his work, was instilled in him during his architectural studies at the Royal College of Art in London. These studies led him to explore and develop various skills, which were fully revealed in a major and groundbreaking exhibition in 2011: A Year with MI6. This was a pivotal moment in his career, as his oil paintings and watercolours captured life within the Secret Intelligence Service (for which James Bond worked) in a way that no photographer could have matched, thanks to the diversity of techniques and subjects, both realistic and abstract. The exhibition made the front page of British television news and was covered by BBC News, also attracting the attention of the international press.
Whether perched on a wind-battered ridge in Patagonia, on the summit of Mont Blanc at 8 p.m., on the side of Yosemite's Half Dome, or contemplating K2 and Broad Peak in the mountains of Pakistan, James's major concern is "the quality of the painting." Whatever subject James chooses, his paintings primarily emphasize pictorial language, texture and emotion, as much as the image itself.
Associated Exhibitions
2026 K2 in Pictures: James Hart Dyke and Vittorio Sella (forthcoming autumn 2026)
2025 James Hart Dyke: From the Studio, John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Avery Row, London
2024 Yosemite John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Avery Row, London
2023 Mont Blanc: The Summit Paintings Cromwell Place, South Kensington, London. Curated by John Mitchell Fine Paintings
2022 Recent Paintings John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Avery Row, London
2021 South Downs John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Avery Row, London.
2020 North Norfolk John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Avery Row, London.
2019 From the studio John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Avery Row, London.
2017 Patagonia John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Avery Row, London.
2015 Whymper's Alps 150 years on John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Old Bond Street, London.
2012 Landscapes: James Hart Dyke John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Old Bond Street, London.
2007 Royal Tours John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Old Bond Street, London.
2006 Hidden Himalaya John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Old Bond Street, London.
2005 The High Atlas John Mitchell Fine Paintings, Old Bond Street, London
2004 Everest Painting Expedition John Mitchell and Son, Old Bond St, London.
2002 Visions of a Travelling Artist John Mitchell and Son, New Bond Street, London.
Press
The Guardian
'Artist captures the impact of climate crisis over 150 years on Mont Blanc'
2 September 2023
Sky News with Kay Burley
James Hart Dyke and William Mitchell discuss the project to paint on the summit of Mont Blanc
28 September 2023
BBC Radio 4, Saturday Live
'James Hart Dyke, mountain painter'
1 September 2023
The Guardian
'The artist who spied on MI6'
14 February 2011
The New York Times International Edition
'British espionage unmasked on canvas'
24 February 2011
Financial Times
'Artist exposes the hidden world of MI6'
15 February 2011
The Times
'A rare event, an artist displays intelligence'
15 February 2011
The Telegraph
'I spy an undercover artist'
21 February 2011
The Guardian
'A brush with royalty'
4 December 2007
The Times
'Scaling new heights of inspiration'
9 December 2004
The Guardian
'Extreme painting'
24 September 2004
The Wall Street Journal
'Collecting. A modern but classical painter'
6 December 2002
The Art Newspaper
'Visions of a travelling artist'
December 2002