The Art of Sir Winston Churchill The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to view paintings rarely seen in North America by the British statesman Winston Churchill (1874 1965), one of the most renowned wartime leaders of the twentieth century. Bringing together 10 paintings from the esteemed collection of the family of the late Julian Sandys, grandson of Winston Churchill, and from the collection at the National Churchill Museum, this exhibition surveys both Churchill s landscapes and seascapes, the artist-statesman s favorite subjects. Beginning with his work from the 1920s, the paintings on view represent four of the five decades in which Churchill pursued what was for him the greatest of hobbies. The exhibition is a collaboration between the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. It also Ill. 1 Oscar Nemon (Croatian, 1887 1979) Cast of Winston Churchill s Hand Bronze 10 in h, 5 ½ in w National Churchill Museum at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri includes several objects from the permanent collection of the National Churchill Museum including a cigar humidor given to Churchill by the people and government of Cuba (1946), a top hat signed by Churchill, President Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin (1945), a rare dispatch box from Churchill s time as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1915) and a bronze cast of Winston Churchill s hand by Oscar Nemon [Ill. 1]. Also on view are never-before exhibited items related Churchill s visit to Westminster College, where he delivered his most significant post-war speech, the Sinews of Peace, commonly known as the Iron Curtain Speech on March 5, 1946.
The Churchill Image History has painted a portrait of Winston Churchill as an ambitious, confident, bold, and highly creative man. Volumes have been written about Churchill, the statesman who led the British during World War II and inspired a nation during its finest hour. Churchill is remembered today five decades after his death as a leader whose eccentricities and audacity contributed to his stubborn defiance in the face of adversity. He was also a passionate writer and orator. He wrote over five thousand speeches, forty-two books, and countless articles ranging from African travel journals to essays about oil painting, and in 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values. There remains, however, another picture to be painted of Sir Winston Churchill: the portrait of Churchill as an artist. Ill. 2 Winston Churchill painting at Chateua St- Georges-Motel near Dreux, France. 1935 National Churchill Museum at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri Gift of Richard and Barbara Mahoney Ill. 2 Winston Churchill painting in France. 1935 National Churchill Museum at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri Gift of Richard and Barbara Mahoney
Amateur amid Professionals A self-proclaimed pastime painter, Winston Churchill did not begin painting until the age of forty. Although he received no formal training as an artist, he pursued his hobby with characteristic passion, and it became a lifelong interest. A 1921 essay, which later became the basis for his book Painting as a Pastime, serves as the painter s personal credo on the creative process and recounts the origins of his interest in painting. The essay describes how in 1915, following a disastrous campaign at the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I, Churchill resigned from his position as First Lord of the Admiralty. I had great anxiety and no means of relieving it, he wrote. With long hours of unwonted leisure in which to contemplate the frightful unfolding of the war, he turned to painting as a means to clear his mind and relieve his stress an antidote that served him throughout the remainder of his turbulent career. Churchill also studied the subject voraciously. He visited museums and galleries and copied the work of American and European painters, such as Charles François Daubigny, John Singer Sargent, and Paul Cézanne, among others. He was a friend of such artists as Sir John Lavery (Irish, 1856 1941) and Paul Maze (French, 1887 1979); Maze s Winston Churchill at His Easel Painting the Mill at Dreux (1932) [Ill. 3] is included in the exhibition. In 1948 Churchill was appointed Honorary Academician Extraordinary by the Royal Academy in London, an honor that elevated Churchill s status as a painter. Ill. 3 Paul Maze (French, 1887 1979) Winston Churchill at His Easel Painting the Mill at Dreux, 1932 Oil on canvas 18 x 12.5 in. Gift of Mrs. Norman Laski
Passion for Light and Landscape Of Churchill s nearly 575 total paintings, 350 are landscapes or seascapes. He often planned his holidays to the south of France or Marrakech, Morocco in order to satisfy his interest in colorful scenery, which he painted en plein air. His attention to color, and the reflection of light and color on water, comprises his most frequent painterly pursuit. He also captured many scenes of the Britain, including Firth of Forth (c. 1925) [Ill. 2] and Lake Near Breccles (1930s) [Ill.3], which are included in the exhibition. Happy are the painters, for they shall not be lonely, he wrote in Painting as a Pastime. Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep them company to the end, or almost the end of the day. With the same sentiment that he hoped the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands ( Finest Hour speech, June 18, 1940), he applied color to canvas to create paintings that, like his rhetoric, reflect his optimism and determination in the face of adversity. Ill 2 Sir Winston Churchill (British, 1874 1965) Firth of Forth, c. 1925 oil on canvas, 25 x 30 in. Copyright Churchill Heritage, Ltd. Ill 3 Sir Winston Churchill (British, 1874 1965) Lake Near Breccles, 1930s oil on canvas, 21.5 x 29 in. Copyright Churchill Heritage, Ltd.
Sir Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) Firth of Forth, ca. 1925 oil on canvas, 25 x 30 in.. Sir Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) Boats at Cannes Harbor, 1937 oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in.. Sir Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, 1951 oil on canvas 24 x 20 in. Churchill Heritage, Ltd Sir Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) Lake Near Breccles, 1930s oil on canvas 21.5 x 29 in. Sir Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) On the Var, ca. 1935 oil on canvas 20 x 25 in.
Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) Distant View of Èze, 1930s oil on canvas 20 x 30 in. Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) The Mill at St-Georges-Motel, ca. 1932 oil on board 24 x 32 in. Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) Coast Scene Near Marseilles, 1930s oil on canvas 25 x 30 in. Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) Marrakech, 1947 oil on canvas 22 x 27 in. Winston Churchill (British, 1874-1965) Avenue at Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, with Diana Churchill, ca. 1922 oil on canvas 20 x 24 in.
Paul Maze (French, 1887 1979) Winston Churchill at His Easel Painting the Mill at Dreux, 1932 Oil on canvas 18 x 12.5 in. Gift of Mrs. Norman Laski Winston Churchill s Travel Easel Private Collection Dispatch Box of The Hon. Winston S. Churchill M.P., Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1915 Top Hat with Signatures of Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin Partially Smoked Cigars, 1956 Gift of Barbara and Richard Manhoney
Cigar Humidor Presented to Winston Churchill by the People and Government of Cuba, 1946 24 in wide, 18 in deep, 26 in tall (when open) William Greenshields Collection Clothing Brush with W.S.C. Monogram 11 ½ in x 2 in. William Greenshields Collection Leather Travel Clock with W.S.C. Monogram 5 in w, 4 in t, 3 in deep (when open) William Greenshields Collection
Oscar Nemon (Croatian, 1906 1985) Cast of Winston Churchill s Hand Bronze 10 in h, 5 ½ in w, 2 1/8 in deep Sir Jacob Epstein (British, 1880 1959) Bust of Winston Churchill, 1946 Bronze 19 in h x 11 w x 14 in deep (includes base) Pennant from Truman Churchill Day, March 5, 1946 Felt 29 in x 11 in Reserved Seat Ticket for Iron Curtain Speech, March 5, 1946 Paper 3 in x 5 in
British Flag from Platform during Churchill s Iron Curtain Speech, March 5, 1946 Fountain Pen Used by President John F. Kennedy to Sig Act Making Winston Churchill and Honorary United States Citizen, April 9, 1963