The work, “Mosque of the Tower of Koutoubia”, was sold on March 1 by the Jolie Family Collection and presents the long shadows and warm tones of a sunset in Marrakech, Morocco, a theme Churchill’s favorite to paint.
“The Koutoubia Tower Mosque,” a gift to former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was the only painting Churchill made during World War II. The work is now Churchill’s most expensive painting to sell at auction. Credit: TOLGA AKMEN / AFP via Getty Images
“Churchill first visited Morocco in 1935, where he fell in love with the quality of the light,” said Nick Orchard, head of British modern art at Christie’s in London, where the auction took place. “He felt his country paintings were some of the best.”
The sale tripled more than its high estimate of £ 2.5 million ($ 3.5 million). Churchill’s previous record was £ 1.7 million ($ 2.7 million) in 2014 at Sotheby’s London.
According to a sales expert, actor Brad Pitt bought the Churchill sunset scene as a gift to Jolie in 2011. The couple separated in 2016 after two years of marriage.
The “Koutoubia Tower Mosque” is the only painting Churchill made between 1939 and 1945, during World War II.
In January 1943, after attending the Casablanca Conference in Morocco together to make strategies against Nazi Germany, Churchill convinced Roosevelt to join him in nearby Marrakech and watch the sun set behind the mountains. of the Atlas. Their brief stay together was memorized by the painting, which Churchill created the day after Roosevelt’s departure. After the conference, the two leaders demanded from Germany, Italy and Japan an “unconditional surrender,” a historic statement that had a far-reaching impact on the war.
Actor Brad Pitt bought Churchill’s painting for Angelina Jolie in 2011, before they married and separated after more than a decade together. Credit: Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Pitt bought the painting from antiques dealer Bill Rau, who previously said the son of CNN president Roosevelt had sold the piece to a filmmaker in the 1960s. According to Rau, the painting eventually ended up in New Orleans, where it was kept in the closet of a local family for more than five decades before a family member contacted their gallery, MS Rau.
“Scene at Marrakech,” another Moroccan work by Churchill’s at dusk, sold for three of its highest estimate during the same sale. Credit: courtesy of Christie’s
Churchill began painting until adulthood, around the age of 40, after a failed naval attack during World War I that cost him the title of First Lord of the Admiralty. However, he was prolific, producing more than 500 works in his lifetime.
The former prime minister’s art market only continues to grow. In addition to the “Koutoubia Tower Mosque,” two of his other works performed excessively in the nightly sale of Christie’s “Modern British Art.”
“Scene at Marrakech,” another light-filled composition from Churchill’s favorite place, went for about £ 1.9 million ($ 2.6 million) and “St Paul’s Churchyard,” sold close of £ 1.1 million ($ 1.5 million). Both selling prices exceeded three times their high estimates.
“Winston Churchill’s fondness for artwork was shown to have a great effect on Christie’s,” Orchard said.