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CHURCHILL’S MARRAKECH
SOTHEBY’S TO SELL MAJOR WORK BY
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL WHICH HE GAVE TO
US PRESIDENT, HARRY S. TRUMAN, IN 1951
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill, Marrakech, oil on canvas, estimate: £300,000-500,000*
“I shall treasure the picture as long as I live…..”
Harry S. Truman
SOTHEBY’S: REGISTERED AT THE ABOVE ADDRESS NO. 874867
SIR WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL (1874-1965) was one of the great statesmen of the 20th Century but it is his
paintings that have put him in the spotlight over the last year or so. In July of this year Sotheby’s sold a view of
his home, Chartwell Landscape with Sheep, for £1 million – a new auction record for a work by him (by nearly
twice the previous record) – while in December last year, a Moroccan scene entitled View of Tinherir that Churchill
had gifted to General George C. Marshall, fetched £612,800, again at a Sotheby’s auction.
Now, on Thursday, December 13, 2007, Sotheby’s is delighted to announce that it will be offering Churchill’s
Marrakech as a highlight of its forthcoming sale of 20th Century British Art in London. Marrakech is comparable
to View of Tinherir but arguably superior in both composition and provenance.
The painting has superlative
provenance; it was a gift from Churchill to the former US President, Harry S. Truman, in 1951 and has remained
with the Truman family ever since. The work is being sold by the former President’s daughter, Margaret Truman
Daniel, who actually hand-carried the painting from Downing Street, London to the US on behalf of her father.
Never before offered at auction - and last exhibited at the World Fair in New York in 1965 - Marrakech is
expected to fetch £300,000-500,000. Unseen by the outside world for many decades, the reappearance of this
work is sure to attract huge interest in both collectors and academics alike.
Churchill was enthralled by the muse of painting and he avidly pursued what he consistently called his ‘pastime’ for
most of his life. For such a physically strong and restless man, the act of painting proved an ideal balm and
release and he was in fact quoted as saying, “if it weren’t for painting, I couldn’t live; I couldn’t bear the strain of
things.” Wherever Churchill went he was accompanied by paints, brushes, canvases and his easel and in 1948, he
was thrilled to receive the prestigious recognition of Honorary Academician Extraordinary from London’s Royal
Academy of Arts. Modest about his worth as a painter, however, Churchill often gave his most prized works to
people he admired and wanted to honour with the most personal of gifts.
Public figures of such stature as
Presidents Roosevelt and Eisenhower, Viscount Montgomery, Earl Lloyd-George and General George C. Marshall
were among the worthy people to receive such tokens of friendship and respect.
Churchill served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1940-1945 and again from 1951-1955 while
Truman held power from 1945-1953. The two first met following the defeat of Nazi Germany when Truman,
Churchill and Stalin – representing the US, Great Britain and the Soviet Union respectively – gathered at the
Potsdam Conference near Berlin in July 1945 to discuss the future of Europe in the aftermath of the Second World
War.
Later that year, after Churchill’s surprise election defeat, Truman invited him to speak at Westminster
College in Fulton, Missouri. Churchill gladly accepted and it was here that he delivered his famed “Iron Curtain”
speech. During their years in power, a constant flow of both official and private correspondence was exchanged
between the two. This relationship continued to flourish after Churchill’s retirement in 1955.
It was over lunch at No. 10 Downing Street in June 1951 that Marrakech was presented to the Truman family.
Churchill had invited Truman’s daughter Margaret to visit him while she was in town and on meeting he asked her
if she would do him the honour of taking the painting back to her father when she returned home. Margaret of
course was delighted to assist and indeed carried the painting when she sailed back to New York. On handing the
picture to her father on her arrival at the family home in Independence, MO, President Truman hung the painting
on the wall, where it would remain until his death in 1972. After this, the painting hung in Margaret’s New York
apartment.
To accompany his gift, Churchill wrote to Truman: “This picture was hung in the Academy last year, and it is about
as presentable as anything I can produce. It shows the beautiful panorama of the Atlas Mountains in Marrakech.
This is the view I persuaded your predecessor [President Roosevelt] to see before he left North Africa after the
Casablanca Conference [in 1943]. He was carried to the top of a high tower, and a magnificent sunset was duly in
attendance.”
On receipt of the work, Truman replied: “I can’t find words adequate to express my appreciation of the beautiful
picture of the Atlas Mountains painted by you. I shall treasure the picture as long as I live and it will be one of the
most valued possessions I will be able to leave to Margaret when I pass on.”
Painted circa 1948, Marrakech takes as its subject one of Churchill’s favourite painting locations; he was
entranced by the exotic, desert landscape of Morocco and the climate, colour and light of the country. He had
been familiar with Morocco since the mid 1920s but he prized the country most dearly for being the location of the
1943 Casablanca Conference and many of his Moroccan landscapes appear to be closely linked with AngloAmerican solidarity and affection.
Marrakech captures a view over the Moroccan city incorporating its most famous landmarks, the tower of the
Koutoubia Mosque in the foreground and the snow-capped Atlas Mountains in the distance.
The work shows
remarkable similarities to an earlier view of the city that dates from 1943, which Churchill executed shortly after
the Casablanca Conference. This earlier scene was the only picture that he felt able to paint during the Second
World War when he was otherwise totally absorbed – physically, mentally and emotionally – and Churchill gave this
painting to President Roosevelt, whom he insisted on taking to Marrakech after the Conference for them both to
enjoy the spectacle of the sun setting on the snow of the Atlas Mountains.
Both paintings adopt the typical
Moroccan palette of sandy pinks and ochres contrasting with the brilliant blue of the desert sky.
Churchill’s
Morocco scenes are widely regarded as amongst his most successful works.
Frances Christie, specialist in the 20th Century British Art department, comments: “The rise of Churchill through the
art market over the past few years has been remarkable and we are thrilled to be bringing another of his most
important and accomplished works to the saleroom at a time when interest in his amazing ‘pastime’ is stronger
than ever. Not only does Marrakech have extraordinary provenance, it is also a superb example of Churchill at
his very best and it shows a subject which was very dear to his heart.”
* Pre-sale estimates do not include buyer’s premium
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