Last week, a painting by Churchill was sold for $1.3 million in Canada, indicating that interest in the former British prime minister remains alive.
Apart from being a statesman and wartime leader, Winston Churchill was also an avid painter. His paintings of the scenes from his postings, particularly wartime locations, continue to remain popular. One of these, Marrakech (c. 1935), was sold last week at the Heffel Fine Art auction house in Toronto.
The painting, which features a vivid, sunny scenery, is set in the city ot Marrakech – one of the most prominent cities in Churchill’s works. He gifted the painting to his wife, the Lady Clementine Ogilvy-Spencer, who then donated it to the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1956. It has remained in their possession ever since until last Wednesday, when it went up for auction as part of a 60-lot collection. The work had a presale estimate of $600,000 but ended up fetching more than double at $1.3 million. It was also the top sale at the auction that collected a total of $4.9 million. While it is not unusual for a Churchill work to fetch a price in this range, it is certainly surprising in a non-UK market and indicates that global interest is alive in the artistic works of one of the most important figures of the 20th century.
The auction record for Winston Churchill was set in 2021, when The Tower of Loutoubia was sold for $11.3 million at Christie’s London. The painting, which was the only wartime painting he ever made, came from the collection of Angelina Jolie’s family.
