January 1, 1970

Introduced by Richard M. Langworth

Churchill’s first commercial exhibition of his paintings, in 1921, was at the Galerie Druet, a Paris establishment specializing in post-Impressionists. It apparently resulted in six sales, but no one knew the artist, ‘Charles Morin’, Churchill’s pseudonym. It was an odd choice, because an artist by that name actually existed! Charles Camille Morin (1846-1919) was a well-known French landscape painter with whose work Churchill may have been familiar. Why Churchill chose the name of an artist so recently deceased is a mystery, but there is no doubt that it was intentional. In 1941, Edward Bruce of the Smithsonian Institution asked President Roosevelt to forward a luncheon invitation to ‘Charles Marin’ — a jocular allusion to Churchill. A series of telegrams ensued between Washington and London enquiring about ‘the Prime Minister’s nom de palette’. Churchill’s private secretary finally replied: ‘Correct name is CHARLES MORIN not repeat not MARIN’. This article, by the leading art historian of Churchill’s work, illustrates eight paintings in colour.

Read the full article, here: ‘Charles Morin and the Search for Churchill’s Nom de Palette’, by David Coombs, Finest Hour 148, Autumn 2010. Scroll to page 31.