Churchill painting fetches $1.5m.

[corsair67]

From The Australian.

And it wasn't even signed by Helen Clark! ;D


Churchill painting fetches $1.5m
By Mike Collett-White in London
December 12, 2006.


A PAINTING by British wartime leader Winston Churchill sold for £612,800 ($1.53 million) at auction today, easily beating the previous record for the part-time artist and three times the pre-sale estimate.

View of Tinherir was painted in 1951 in Marrakech, Morocco, and given two years later to US General George Marshall, whom Churchill considered "the last great American".

"Most significant is the provenance of this painting," said Sarah Thomas, an expert at Sotheby's which sold the work. "It was a gift by Churchill to a statesman whom he respected and revered enormously.

"Obviously also there is the 'lost painting' factor - it was not known about before we were made aware of it."

According to Sotheby's, it has remained in the Marshall family since 1953 and was sold by award-winning actress Kitty Winn, granddaughter of the general. It had been expected to fetch up to £250,000 ($623,286).

The previous auction record for a Churchill painting was £344,000 ($857,641) for On the Rance, Near St. Malo set in 2005.

The successful telephone bidder asked to remain anonymous, and Sotheby's would say only that the painting went to a private collector who had expressed an interest in the work before today's sale.

View of Tinherir was painted in the year that Churchill returned to the office of prime minister and six years after the Allied victory in World War II.

Churchill had a long association with Morocco, but remembered it foremost as the site for the Casablanca Conference in early 1943 where US President Franklin Roosevelt's delegation included Marshall.

The painting he presented to Marshall was one of at least three Moroccan landscapes he gave away as gifts to leading US figures. The other two went to Dwight Eisenhower and Roosevelt himself, according to Sotheby's.

Marshall, who initiated the Marshall Plan to help war-ravaged countries of Europe recover, came to Britain in 1953 to attend Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and Churchill gave him the painting during that visit.

[Dave Homewood]

I've always thought Winston Churchill had some great talent as an artist. Interestingly Hitler also painted as a hobby, and some of his work went under the hammer recently too.

[Bruce]

Churchill was a prolific painter aparently (so there should be more of his work out there somewhere). It was very important therapy to him as he suffered depression at times (he called such spells "Black dogs") by all accounts it was his favourite pasttime, and as you say Dave, he was pretty talented at it as well.

[Dave Homewood]

I believe many of his works still hang at Chartwell, now with the National Trust

[phil82]

Correct; I visited Chartwell in May, and it's stunning experience I can tell you. There is so much of the man in that house, including the brick wall he built! He had his own studio in the grounds, and a lot of his work is still there.

[Dave Homewood]

Have you seen the amazing HBO-made film "The Gathering Storm"? It is the best drama I have ever seen about Churchill, and Albert Finney absolutely becomes him. It has a stunning cast all round, including the great Ronnie Barker in his penultimate film role.

Chartwell features heavily in the film, as do other places playing Chartwell. The script is about Churchill's wilderness years when he tried to convince Baldwin of Hitler's motives in the 1930's. It culminates with his entry back into the role of First Admiral.

The DVD commentary is fascinating too, and in it they mention a couple of tiems a planned sequel. I hope it goes ahead as it will cover the war years.

[Bruce]

Yep - saw that film - absolutely stunning portrayal showing the very human side of a great man - a sequel would be great.