Christopher Miers was born in 1941 and brought up in Chelsea. He was educated at Wellington College. From an early age he spent as much time as possible painting but, following family tradition, became a soldier. He won the Sword of Honour at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in 1961 and was commissioned into The King’s Royal Rifle Corps (later The Royal Green Jackets).
Christopher joined his regiment in Berlin soon after the Wall was built. On return to England he had his first exhibition - at the Minories, Colchester in 1964. He then commanded a platoon on active service in Borneo, where he was mentioned in despatches, and was an instructor at the Jungle Warfare School in Malaya. An exhibition of his paintings of Borneo was held at the Ansdell Gallery in Kensington in 1967.
After a tour with the United Nations Force in Cyprus, he had another exhibition in 1968.
In 1972 Christopher was asked to paint scenes of the Army in Northern Ireland, where he met and painted with Ken Howard, the official war artist appointed by the Imperial War Museum. They held a joint exhibition at the Ministry of Defence. Christopher’s work was published privately as Northern Ireland: A Soldier’s View. This was an appropriate title given that Christopher witnessed the conflict as a soldier-painter and as a company commander in the IRA stronghold of the Upper Falls in Belfast. Later he served in South Armagh.
Christopher commanded his regiment’s volunteer battalion, 4th Bn The Royal Green Jackets, from 1982 to 1984.This was based in London but was a reinforcement battalion for an armoured brigade in Germany.
In 1985, as a serving lieutenant-colonel, he had his first painting hung in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy and was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists. Offered the appointment of Secretary of the Arts Club in Dover Street, London W1, he took early retirement from the Army. After 5 years in this appointment, he became a full-time painter in 1990. He was a Trustee of the Royal Society of British Artists from 1998 to 2005.
He has exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition regularly since 1985. He is an elected member of the Royal Society of British Artists, the Chelsea Art Society and the Small Paintings Group.
Christopher has had over 25 one-man shows including: four with Sally Hunter Fine Art, Belgravia; five at Rafael Valls Limited, Ryder Street, St James’s, London SW1; and one at Oakham Contemporary (now Panter & Hall) in Bury Street, St James’s.
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