Exhibitions

The Club is pleased to be able to use its premises and resources, along with its renowned archive of mountaineering reports, books, art and artefacts to host and curate exhibitions that celebrate mountain history and culture. As well as spotlighting the work of contemporary artists and academics, the Club has also worked to mark key mountaineering anniversaries; bringing together records of the past to keep our history alive and engaging for climbers and the wider community alike.

Individual exhibitions may vary, but most take place at our Charlotte Road Club House.

A full list of past and upcoming exhibitions is shown below.

Latest Exhibition from Mountain Artist John Colton Set to Open at the Alpine Club

Latest Exhibition from Mountain Artist John Colton Set to Open at the Alpine Club

For our first exhibition of 2023, John Colton brings a collection of alpine memories to Charlotte Road. In this new show, playfully titled ‘Over the Hill,’ he shares a series of scenes captured during his most active years in the Alps and revisited during 2022.

'Aiguilles' - John Colton

Working from his old A5 sketchbooks, filled with scenes of mountain days from the latter half of the 20th Century, John takes us back to the moments when alpine landscapes filled his vision, immersing us in the adventures of his youth.

Each of the chosen sketches has been lovingly recreated and is accompanied by a written piece that situates the work in John’s own remarkable life. Many of the scenes show the view of or from classic alpine routes, with John’s words helping to convey the history and mythos of these climbs.

“Drawing the hills has added another dimension to my mountaineering life, enriching it considerably by extending dialogue, contact and friendship with a diverse collection of people.” – John Colton


For this exhibition, John has worked in watercolour on grey paper, using white gouache rather than the paper itself to evoke the play of alpine light. Now, many years removed from the original sketches, he takes the opportunity for artistic license, focussing on the elements of greatest import in his renewed compositions.

'From the Walker Spur' - John Colton

With an exhibition that reproduces earlier works, there is a clear sense of an artist looking back on their career. But there is more than simple nostalgia at play here. As a mountain artist who is keenly aware of the history of the form, John is also reappraising, renewing and looking at his own place in the mountain art firmament with fresh eyes.

When discussing his early artistic life, John gives the impression of a beatnik-adjacent milieu, his art adorning the walls of restaurant gardens and temporary street stalls in the French Alps that lasted as long as the gendarmerie allowed. Through the friends he made in this time, not least the Simonds of “The Nash”, his works found their way into the hands of Desmaisons and Herzogs. But when he showed his paintings to the proprietors of the upscale art galleries of Old Geneva they turned him down, reassuring him that he would be famous when he died. His reply? “I can’t wait.”

‘Over The Hill’ will run from 14 February 2023 to 30 April 2023 at the Alpine Club’s premises of 55 Charlotte Road, London, EC2A 3QF and will be open from 12:00 – 17:00 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visitors are encouraged to book in advance by contacting the Alpine Club Office on 02076130755 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

 

 

'The British Alps' Exhibition Opens November 2022

'The British Alps' Exhibition Opens November 2022

Award-winning artist Helen G S Forde brings her latest exhibition ‘The British Alps’ to the Alpine Club. The show is an exploration of the Cuillin Ridge on the Isle of Skye, perhaps the most iconic mountain range in Britain and one with which Helen has a deep, personal connection.

 

‘The British Alps’ details this remarkable mountain landscape; from the rock architecture of the ridge itself to the deep cut valleys and green lochs that surround it. In oil and charcoal, ink, pen and watercolour, Helen’s work evokes a sense of place and offers an insight into the individuals who have made history amongst the gabbro and basalt.

Featured in the exhibition is Dr J. Norman Collie, President of the Alpine Club from 1920 to 1923, and a climber who had an abiding relationship with the Cuillin. Collie discovered climbing in the range when, aged 17, he came to Skye on a fishing trip and made an ascent of Am Basteir with local man John Mackenzie. He would return many times, pioneering new routes alongside Mackenzie with whom he became firm friends.


Dr J Norman Collie - Sligachan. Inks, Brush & Pen
 
The Inaccessible Pinnacle. Charcoal & Oil

Another figure who left his mark on “The British Alps” is Helen’s father Woodhurst Edward Forde who, with Ian Charleson, made the first ascent of The Greater Traverse of the Cuillin in 1939. Writing in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal, Charleson recalled:

“Beneath us the Island of Soay stood out like a map in bas-relief. We could dimly discern, too, many of the islands of the Inner Hebrides. At this point Forde burst into song, possibly in his enthusiasm for this unparalleled scene. I followed his example, and in very good spirits we proceeded along the ridge…We had our first meal at the foot of King's Chimney, after which pleasant interlude I had the pleasure of watching Forde leading this steep climb with the same effortless ease that I had admired on many previous occasions.”


Winter - Sgurr Mhic Choinnich. Oil on canvass

Am Basteir. Watercolours & Ink

“When I climb the King’s Chimney using the same hand and footholds as my Father, I experience a range of strong emotions. I have tried to engender these emotions and feelings into the heart of the works throughout this exhibition.”

Helen G S Forde

 

‘The British Alps’ will run from 15 November 2022 to 31 January 2023 at the Alpine Club’s premises of 55 Charlotte Road, London, EC2A 3QF and will be open from 12:00 – 17:00 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visitors are encouraged to book in advance by contacting the Alpine Club Office on 02076130755 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Please Note: The Alpine Club will be closed from 19 December to 02 January inclusive and the exhibition will be closed to visitors during this period.

You can see a full collection of the works on display here.

 

 

 

'The British Alps' Exhibition - Featured Works

Artists Helen G S Forde, brings her exhibition 'The British Alps', an artistic exploration of the Cuillin Ridge, to the Alpine Club's Charlotte Road premises. The exhibition is open to visitors on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between the hours of 12:00 and 17:00 and will run from 15 November 2022 to 31 January 2023. Further details of how to visit the exhibition are available here.

For those who are unable to attend the exhibition in person all of the pieces from the 'The British Alps' are available to view below.

 


'Cuillin of Skye in the Rain'
Medium: Watercolours
£1,400

'Pinncle Ridge - Skye'
Medium: Watercolours and Gouache
£1,600

'Collie's Ledge - Sketch'
Medium: Pastels & Charcoal
£1,900

 


'Collie's Ledge'
Medium: Pastels & Charcoal
£2,200 SOLD

'Evening Sunset in February'
Medium: Oil on Canvas
£1,900

'Winter - Sgurr Mhic Choinnich'
Medium: Oil on Canvas
£1,900

 


'South Ridge of Blaven in February'
Medium: Oil on Canvas
£3,200

'The An Stac Screes'
Medium: Pastels and Charcoal

£1,400

'The Cuillin Ridge - Mid-summer'
Medium: Oil on Canvas
£780

 


'An Teallach - Silent mountain - Beating wings'
Medium: Oil on Canvas
£2,800

'Dr J Norman Collie Former President of the Alpine Club'
Medium: Pencil
£290

'The Inaccessible Pinnacle'
Charcoal/Oil on Canvas
£2,400

 


'Dr J Norman Collie Professor of Chemistry'
Medium: Pencil
£580

'Dr J Norman Collie Outside the Slighahan Hotel in Skye, 1942'
(Two months before his death, the beloved Cuillin etched across his face).
Medium: Inks, Brush and Pen
£780

'Self-portrait, Black - 2020'
Medium: Inks & Brush

Not For Sale

 


'The West Ridge of Sgurr nan Gillean'
(Showing the 'Gendarme' which collapsed in 1987 after frost or lighting, this being as Norman Collie and John Mackenzie would have remembered the ridge).
Charcoal/Pastel & Watercolours

£1,500

'Loch Coruisk - The Sea Beyond'
Medium: Watercolours
£2,400

'Loch Coruisk - Sketch'
Medium: Inks and Watercolours.
£480 SOLD

 


'Marsco - Skye'
Medium: Watercolours and Ink
£580

'The Black Cuillin'
Medium: Watercolours and Ink.
£390

'Am Basteir'
Medium: Watercolours and Ink
£1,400

 


'The Blue Cuillin'
Medium: Watercolours
£450 SOLD

'Sgurr na Coinnich from Glen Arroch'
Medium: Pastel and Watercolours
£690

 


'Self-portrait, Pink - 2020'
Medium: Conte Pencil and Pastel
Not For Sale

 

A full breakdown of the works, including framing details and prices can be seen here

To contact the artist for sales please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 07765401615.

 

 

 

AC Exhibition Transfers to Slovenia's Planinski Museum

Our Cenetennial Celebration Exhibition - 'Everest - By those who were there 1921, 1922, 1924' is on display at the Planinski Museum, Mojstrana, Slovenia, through December 2022. The exhibition catalogue has been translated into Slovenian alongside the Engish text, with all the images and maps. Anyone travelling to Slovenia can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for opening hours and further information.

 

The cover of the 'Everest by Those Who Were There' catalogue with an image of Everest from the 1921 expedition taken by Howard Somervell

 

A display board from the Planinski museum showing photographs and details from the 1922 expedition.
A display board from the Planinski exhibition with a discussion of the final attempt on the summit of Everest by Mallory and Irvine in 1924. 

The full displays, in Slovene and English, can be accessed as pdf files via the links below: