A lifetime of adventure, captured in bronze
On the lawn of Ol Mara Farm in Subukia, Kenya
Mark Coreth was born in London in 1958, a twin to his sister, Sophie. Within six weeks, they had arrived at the family farm in Subukia, in the Kenyan highlands, where they had an idyllic childhood with colobus monkeys in the trees and the rasp of leopards in the forests beyond. It is undoubtedly where Mark’s love of nature and wide open spaces came from. Holidays were often spent on safari with his parents where he gained a huge admiration for Africa, its people and its wildlife. Africa was and remains in his blood.
Life in the Coreth household was never dull. In 1973, the farm was acquired by the government so the Coreth family took to the high seas aboard their boat, Fandango. This took them on multiple occasions, across the Indian Ocean to the Seychelles and back. Exploring those magical islands in this way gave Mark a depth of understanding about nature from which he has drawn from ever since.
Mark attended prep school in Kenya at Manor House before moving to St Richards Prep School in Herefordshire, followed by Ampleforth College. It was Ursula Tremlett, the headmistress at St Richards, who nurtured Mark’s artistic self.
On leaving school, Mark joined The Blues and Royals, serving with the Regiment as a regular officer. He served not just in the UK but also in Cyprus, Germany, Ireland and the Falkland Islands during the 1982 hostilities. The Falkland Islands conflict was a short, sharp and formative period in Marks early adulthood. As a troop leader, Mark was leading the armoured corps charge during the campaign.
Mark’s natural talent for sculpture emerged early on in his army career, when he sculpted one of the regiment’s bloodhounds called “Bismarck”. This soon led to a number of regimental commissions, including the regiment’s drum horse “Belisarius”, for the Warrant Officer’s Mess. Later, a second cast in bronze became the Household Cavalry’s wedding present to The Duke and Duchess of York. Other commissions within the military include a spectacular depiction of the recovery of the guns at the Battle of Colenso and a Hereford bull for the SAS.
Coreths aboard Fandango in the Seychelles
March towards Stanley, Falkland Islands, 1982
An early flamingo
On return from the Falkland Islands with fellow Troop Leader, Robin Innes-Kerr, in conversation with the Colonel of the Regiment
At St Richards prep school,
Learning to fly, aged 18, Mahe, Seychelles
The Coreth twins, aged 6 weeks, with their BOAC air hostess
On UN duty in Cyprus
Sculpture was at this stage secondary to his military career. Mark served his regiment as its Adjutant and then as Headquarters Squadron Leader at the mounted regiment on ceremonial duties. When the Cold War drew to an end and the size of the military was being reduced, Mark decided to leave the army in 1993 and set forth on a full time career as a sculptor. By this time, he was married to his wife, Seonaid and had four children. Under his belt he had two one-man exhibitions at the Sladmore Gallery in London and a third pending, so he had the wind in his sails.
Amongst bringing up a young family, travel became a key part of his sculptural life, initially focused on returning to Kenya and mastering the extraordinary wildlife there, but soon spreading his wings further and exploring the Indian subcontinent, the Americas, the Arctic, the Himalayas and the Russian Far East in search of the world’s most exciting wildlife.
In 2005, Mark headed off on one of his first far-flung adventures, to Ladakh in the Himalayas in search of the snow leopard. After a lengthy search, high altitude and deep cold, he saw one of these elusive cats. It was around these trips that he formed his pattern of sculptural travels and exhibitions for the years to come.
At the same time, his other passion in light aviation was developing from building a microlight to flying his beloved 1960’s Jodel throughout Europe and beyond. He used his aeroplane often as a sculptural tool; on adventures to Eastern Europe to study bison on the Polish border with Belarus, bears in Romania and dragons in the Czech Republic!
Eye to eye with a leopard
A return to the Falklands in 2006, in preparation for his Falkland Islands commission at Pangbourne College
Up close and personal with the King Penguin, Falkland Islands, 2006
Sculpting at 15,000 feet in Ladakh
The high Himalayas
With Prince Robert of Luxembourg and his monumental dragon
Through the legs of an elephant
In discussion with a Langur monkey, Bandhavgarh, India
In his hide, searching for the Snow Leopard
Following a visit to the Arctic in 2010 he was determined to bring home the fragility of the eco-system through his sculpture. He created “The Ice Bear Project” which consisted of creating a life-size bronze polar bear skeleton and encased it in a giant block of ice which he then carved into a polar bear. This large bear was then allowed to melt on site while people touched it, revealing the haunting bronze skeleton inside. This project was recreated in London’s Trafalgar Square and at climate change conferences in Copenhagen, Sydney, Ottawa and other locations. It helped raise awareness of the whole climate change debate and reminded people of the extraordinary fragility of the many endangered species. An award winning short film of the ice bear project was narrated by Ewan McGregor.
As well as his regular one-man shows at Sladmore Contemporary Mark undertakes monumental sculpture commissions. To date these include a life-size piece of two cheetahs in a tree for the ruling family in Dubai, a life-size figure of a boatman which sits outside Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a shoal of rays in the Docklands, an intricate 50-piece drinking fountain in central London and a full-size bronze ‘Tree of Hope’ with hundreds of cast swifts among the branches which was commissioned for the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital in Muristan. He has undertaken some monumental commissions as well; amongst them, a life-size African elephant, one copy residing in a private collection in Australia and another in Rome.
Two major commissions cemented his international reputation. The first was unveiled at Chateau Haut Brion in France. The 4-meter-high Dragon for Chateau Quintus commissioned by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, stands on the hill overlooking the vineyards.
At Royal Ascot in 2016 Her Majesty the Queen unveiled Mark’s sculpture of Frankel the world-famous racehorse. This life size portrait bronze was commissioned by Prince Khalid Abdullah and his Juddmonte stud of their multi prize winning racehorse. Copies of the life size sculpture stand at Ascot, York, the National Horse Racing Museum and at the stud itself.
The only white elephant amongst all the white horses of Wiltshire!
Getting Frankel's approval of his portrait
"The Tree of Hope", Muristan, Jerusalem
Mark with his Jodel, Gibraltar, 2012
Deep in the Arctic, after polar bears to sculpt
"Is that meant to be me...?" Gorilla study, London Zoo