Robbie Wraith was born in London. At sixteen he left England for Florence, Italy to study painting, drawing, and the traditional technique of fresco at the invitation of Pietro Annigoni.
His works are in the collection of H.M The Queen of England; the private collection of H.R.H The Prince of Wales; The Royal Collection Windsor; The Vatican; Chatsworth; The National Trust; Oxford University; Cambridge University; Eton College; The MCC; Shell International and many others. A long list of distinguished portrait sitters has included H.M The Queen of England; The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, commissioned by H.R.H The Prince of Wales; The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and Nelson Mandela which was drawn while accompanying H.R.H The Prince of Wales as traveling artist on his official visits to South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho.
Other work for H.R.H The Prince of Wales includes two series of pictures of the house and gardens at Highgrove, and a series of H.M.Y Britannia including its decommissioning ceremony. Wraith painted the picture presented to Pope John Paul II to commemorate his visit to Canterbury in 1982, and has painted frescoes in the traditional manner in Italy. Wraith was elected to The Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1995. He has exhibited at The Royal Academy, The National Portrait Gallery, the Paris Salon, and Royal Watercolour Society among others.
Bio, Courtesy of Cambridge Art Gallery