April 27, 2024

Rarely Seen Paintings by Winston Churchill Offered by Heather James Fine Art

(Palm Desert, California) Heather James Fine Art is offering for sale ten paintings by Sir Winston Churchill drawn from one of the largest collections of the great statesman’s artwork outside of the United Kingdom. Originating from a single family owner, the canvases have never before been exhibited publicly. Churchill’s beloved hobby of painting played a critical role in his life and offers a unique way to understand this towering figure.

“Heather James is thrilled to present this superb selection of paintings by Winston Churchill,” says Heather James Fine Art Co-Founder Jim Carona. “Not only was Churchill one of the greatest statesmen of the modern era, his personal foray into painting showcased his inner workings with resulting artworks that are technically adept and aesthetically beautiful. These paintings read like pages out of his diary, mementos of the moments and places that were meaningful to one of the most important men of his day. We at Heather James have had the honor of working closely with Churchill’s family and his oeuvre in the past and consider his works a specialty of ours. It is a joy to be able to share these phenomenal examples.”

The ten paintings offered by Heather James include bold landscapes, a vibrant still life, and a quiet interior portrait. It was the Impressionist influence and his own pleasure that most likely made landscapes the genre of choice for Churchill. Painting en plein air was a hallmark for the Impressionists and so too did Churchill haul his paints and canvas outdoors and into nature. Looking at a landscape painting by Churchill is like reading a page of his diary. Given the many demands on his time and his accomplishments both as a politician and as a writer, the high quality and productivity of his artistic output is difficult to fathom.

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The ten works for sale from this collection include a number of superb examples both of Churchill’s skill as a painter and the interesting stories behind the man and the paintings:

On the Rance Near St. Malo

In 1955, at the museum’s request, Churchill offered this canvas along with Loup River as choices for the Tate Museum to acquire as a “gift to the nation.” Loup River was selected and On the Rance ended up lost in a storeroom at the Tate, where it remained undiscovered for nearly a half century.

The Bay of Eze

Churchill painted this close to the home of his lifelong friend and cousin by marriage, Consuelo Balsan née Vanderbilt, formerly the Duchess of Marlborough. Despite divorcing his cousin, the Duke of Marlborough, the Gilded Age American socialite maintained her close friendship with Churchill. Churchill holidayed and painted in Eze, in St Georges-Motel near Paris, and in Palm Beach at the estates owned by the glamorous Consuelo and her second husband Jacques, a First World War fighter ace and wealthy industrialist.

Oranges and Lemons

Churchill painted this work on a chilly January morning in 1958 at La Pausa, once the home of Coco Chanel. At the time it was the owned by Churchill’s literary agent Emery Reves and his wife Wendy. Ms. Reves later donated a portion of her Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection to the Dallas Museum of Art, including works by Cezanne, who Churchill cited as an inspiration.

View of Loch Choire

Churchill painted this in 1919 while staying with his friend the Duke of Sutherland at Dunrobin Castle in Scotland, just a few years after he started painting at age 40.  He returned to Dunrobin Castle in 1921 to recover shortly after losing his daughter Marigold, aged nearly 4. This was the second devastating death that year, having also lost his beloved American mother Jennie.

Winston Churchill and his paintings are an area of expertise for Heather James. In 2018, Heather James Fine Art was proud to present an exhibition of ten of Winston Churchill’s paintings.

For nearly thirty years, Heather James Fine Art has expanded into a global network with galleries located in Palm Desert, California, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, along with consultancies in New York City, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montecito, Newport Beach, Palm Beach, Basel in Switzerland, and Lake Como in Italy. Each year, its galleries present an array of museum-quality exhibitions exploring historical and contemporary themes or examining the work of individual influential artists.

Heather James Fine Art is dedicated to bringing exceptional art to private clients and museums globally while providing the utmost personalized logistical, curatorial, and financial services.

For more information about the collection of Winston Churchill paintings and Heather James Fine Art, please contact us at [email protected] or call (760) 346-8926.