Edgar Louis Vanderstegen Millington-Drake, usually known as Teddy Millington-Drake, was an English artist, known principally for his watercolour paintings. He was born into a wealthy, eccentric family and indulged in travel throughout his life, although his base for the last 30 years was on the Greek island of Patmos.
Early life
Teddy Millington-Drake was born in London, England, on 5 July 1932. His wealthy parents, both of whom were noted eccentrics, were the diplomat Sir Eugen Millington-Drake and his wife Lady Effie Mackay, a daughter of James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape, Chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and founder of Inchcape plc. His father's career meant that Teddy, his fourth child, was an early traveller. He had visited Buenos Aires and Paris before the age of one, and he spent his early years in Uruguay, where his father worked in the British Embassy between 1934 -1940. There were numerous voyages between Uruguay and the United Kingdom during those years, and the family settled permanently in London in 1940 after the outbreak of World War II. Whilst Millington-Drake's early childhood abroad had been happy and luxurious, he disliked the experience of the British preparatory school system. He had already acquired an interest in sketching and painting, inspired by the fashion sketches supplied to his mother so that she could order her clothes from Worth in Paris, and found his time at Eton College to be much more to his liking. There he indulged in art and was supervised by Wilfred Blunt, the art historian.
Adulthood
Following his time at Eton, Millington-Drake progressed to Oxford University before joining the Rifle Brigade to serve out his National Service. He spent some time posted in Egypt during the Suez Crisis, where he became a close friend of James Mossman. His facility for making friends was considerable, the number was always rising and they formed an important part of his life, despite which he could be a generous but distant and tetchy host. Nicky Haslam describes Millington-Drake at this time as "the prettiest dark-eyed and curl-haired faun, with an enchanting lisp". Discharged from service and in part inspired by his sister's anecdotes of her travels abroad, Millington-Drake embarked on a painting tour that took him to Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Syria. He was aided by his father's connections, which meant that diplomats abroad would often be pleased to see him, but he also spent much time alone in hotels or outside painting. Jonathan Hope, who wrote an obituary for Millington-Drake, notes that "He loved this part of the world: the soukhs, the street life, the sounds and colours, and was dazzled by the power and simplicity of Islamic architecture". Millington-Drake then rented a house, the Villa Albrizzi, at Este, Veneto in Italy, and became a more frequent painter, particularly now of abstract murals. He befriended Freya Stark, a writer and traveller who lived nearby, and in Venice he became friends with Daisy Fellowes, Peggy Guggenheim, Barbara Hutton and Elsa Maxwell. He was also influenced by, and in turn himself influenced, Bruce Chatwin, who was another writer and traveller. The bisexual Chatwin often stayed with him at Este and elsewhere outside the United Kingdom; the pair had first met when they were in their twenties and they became lovers for some time. A journey to the various islands of Greece resulted in Millington-Drake discovering Patmos, which he much liked. He bought two 17th-century houses there in 1963, in the village of Chora, and set about building works that converted them into an enviable, relaxing environment, complete with a studio, that was much admired by the many people who visited him thereafter. The house, remodelled under the direction of John Stefanidis, was run with the assistance of staff, who included a cook, boatman and gardener. It featured often in magazines and caught the eye of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whom Millington-Drake then invited to lunch there. Millington-Drake continued to enjoy travel, including a visit to paint on Easter Island in 1987, but the home at Patmos was thereafter his base until he died on 5 September 1994, even though he later also bought and converted an old farmhouse at Poggio al Pozzo near Siena, Tuscany. The cause of death was AIDS, from which Chatwin had also died four years earlier. Millington-Drake had undergone treatment for HIV in London but, despite being extremely ill, managed to fulfill his wish to die at home on Patmos, arriving there around 24 hours before his death. He was buried after a service at the Convent of Zoodochou Pigi, which he had supported for many years.
Art
Some of Millington-Drake's art is in public collections, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum. His range of subject matter was as eclectic as his choice of materials. Although he worked in various paint mediums, including acrylics, his watercolours are particularly notable and were exhibited in Bombay and New York, as well as London. There was a particularly successful London exhibition comprising watercolours of India and Ladakh held in 1982. Hope notes that "Viewed retrospectively his pictures form a seductive narrative of travels spanning more than 30 years, in search of some romantic and melancholy ideal". London's Lefevre Gallery mounted a tribute titled "The Travels with Teddy Millington-Drake : a memorial exhibition" that ran between 7-27 November 1996. A limited subscription edition of a memorial book was also published in that year, titled Shapes on the Horizon; it included tributes from friends such as Chatwin, Diana Melly and Felicity Sutherland.
