He had visited Buenos Aires and Paris by the age of one, and spent his early years in Uruguay, where his father was British Minister between 1934 and 1941.
[1] Whilst Millington-Drake's early childhood abroad had been happy and privileged, he disliked the experience of the British preparatory school system.
[2] After completing his National Service and in part inspired by his sister Marie’s anecdotes of her travels abroad, Millington-Drake embarked on a painting tour that took him to the 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 spent a great deal of time alone too, painting in hotel rooms or in the open air.
Jonathan Hope, who wrote Millington-Drake’s obituary in The Independent, 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".
He befriended Freya Stark, the travel writer who lived nearby, and in Venice he enjoyed the company of Daisy Fellowes, Peggy Guggenheim, Barbara Hutton and Elsa Maxwell.
[2][4] A trip round the Greek islands in the early 1960s resulted in Millington-Drake discovering Patmos, which left a deep impression on him.
In 1963 he bought two 17th-century houses on the island, in the village of Chora, and set about building works that converted them into an enchanting, relaxing environment, complete with a studio, that was greatly admired by the friends who came to stay.
[5] Millington-Drake embarked on an adventurous trip to Easter Island in 1987 to paint the celebrated stone statues for an exhibition which he had been wanting to do for a long time.
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.
Some of Millington-Drake's art is in public collections such as the striking plates in bright colours designed by him and made by Franca Pinna in Rome which are at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
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".