Churchill Paintings Worth £800,000 to be Sold by Boningtons
By Luke Bodalbhai, Picture Specialist
Boningtons Auctioneers are pleased to announce
the consignment of two significant oil paintings
by Sir Winston Churchill, becoming the first
regional auction house to offer original works by
the artist. The pictures will be offered on 27th
July at our saleroom in Epping, where Churchill
served as MP between 1924 and 1945.
The paintings themselves, however, are of more
exotic subjects less close to home, depicting the
Giza Pyramids at Cairo (right), and Miami Beach,
Florida – a reflection of the fact that Churchill
painted everywhere he went. Indeed, a prolific
amateur artist, he is said to have produced over
500 paintings during his lifetime, an impressive
feat alongside the lengthy and illustrious political career for which he is renowned.
Both paintings are the property of a private collector who himself acquired them at auction some years
ago. The larger of the two, a 70 x 90 cm oil on canvas depicting the Giza Pyramids at Cairo, estimated at
£400,000-600,000, has exceptional provenance. Painted circa 1946, it was given as a gift by Churchill to
his close friend Field Marshall Jan Christian Smuts, along with another of the same subject. The present
work was hung in the General's study at his home. The other painting, which was hung at Libertas,
Pretoria, was stolen in 1972 and has never been traced.
The second picture to be sold by Boningtons, a
slightly smaller oil on canvas depicting a view from
the Venetian Causeway, Miami Beach, Florida
(right), also has an interesting back story. In January
1946, Churchill and his wife Clementine arrived in
Florida for a six week visit – their first extended
holiday after World War II. There they stayed at the
Miami Beach home of Canadian Industrialist Colonel
Frank W. Clarke and Churchill did not hesitate in
venturing out to paint the local scenery. A
contemporary photograph shows Churchill standing
before palm trees alongside an easel upon which
sits our picture, half finished. Churchill later gave
the painting as a gift to Colonel Clarke and his wife;
it will now be offered in our July 27th auction with an
estimate of £150,000-250,000.
Recently, 50 years after his death, Churchill’s artistic output has be re-assessed and increased in
popularity. He has been described by his biographer David Coombs as a ‘serious and intelligent painter’,
as indicated by his close friendships with Sir John Lavery, whom he studied under, Sickert and William
Nicholson. Churchill also closely studied and was influenced by Turner, Cézanne, Monet and John Singer
Sargent. A recent sale of Churchill’s paintings by Mary Soames, his youngest daughter, drew extremely
competitive bidding and significant prices, including £1.5million for ‘The Goldish Pool at Chartwell’, the
highest price ever paid for a work by the artist at auction.