Winston Churchill’s WWII painting gets put up for auction by owner Angelina Jolie… and it’s expected to fetch up to £2.5m
- Painting by Sir Winston Churchill put up for sale by current owner Angelina Jolie
- He painted it during the Second World War and gave it to Franklin D Roosevelt
- Artwork Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque expected to fetch £1.5 to £2.5million
Mixing history with Hollywood, the artwork’s provenance could hardly be more impressive.
Sir Winston Churchill’s only painting during the Second World War, which he gave to US president Franklin D Roosevelt, has been put up for sale by its current owner Angelina Jolie.
The Moroccan landscape, called Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque, is expected to fetch £1.5million to £2.5million at a Christie’s auction next month – and could set a new record for a work by the former prime minister.
Sir Winston Churchill’s only painting during the Second World War was given to US president Franklin D Roosevelt
Churchill painted it in Marrakech after the Casablanca conference in 1943, where it was agreed by the Allied forces that only complete surrender by the Axis powers would be acceptable.
He invited Roosevelt to join him in Marrakech the day after the conference to show him the views of the city and the light at sunset, which he was particularly passionate about.
Churchill, a keen amateur artist who created more than 500 paintings, captured the scene for the US president as a memento of their excursion.
It is now up for sale by current owner Angelina Jolie and expected to fetch between £1.5 to £2.5million
It depicts the 12th century mosque in Marrakech at sunset with the Atlas mountains in the background.
The artwork was sold by Roosevelt’s son Elliot after his death in 1945 and had several owners before Miss Jolie and her then partner Brad Pitt bought it in 2011.
Nick Orchard, head of Christie’s modern British art department in London, said: ‘It is arguably the best painting by Winston Churchill due to the significance of the subject matter to him.’