Published: Tuesday, 25 May 2024
Statesman, soldier, orator, Nobel Prize in Literature Laureate, Prime Minister… artist. Sir Winston Churchill’s Inland view from Choisy, Switzerland, appeared at Sotheby’s Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale in London this June 2024.
Listed for an estimated GBP3-500,000 (guaranteed with an irrevocable bid [1]), it briskly sold for GBP420,000, and provides us an opportunity to explore Winston’s unexpected technical skill as an artist, but also how his art furthers our understanding of both him and history.
Churchill’s reputation as a painter is a (distant) second to his political exploits, but Inland view from Choisy, Switzerland is… surprisingly good.
It is hard to separate the artwork from the artist; Churchill was personally aware of that, and often submitted his works for exhibition under pseudonyms. Still, objectively, his bright and broad application of colour, manipulation of light, and smooth-yet-distinct brushwork is impressive for an amateur artist without formal training. This work highlights the impression of the world around him as he painted en plein air. He neatly captures the tranquility of the natural beauty, the sense of open space and transitioning scale.
This is not a one-off fluke: Winston’s oeuvre of over 500 works consists of landscapes, cityscapes, and still-lifes with inspiration clearly rooted in the work of French Impressionists and English Romantics. Compare the style of Choisy to these works by JMW Turner and Paul Cezanne [2]:
You can see Churchill imitates the brushstrokes of Cezanne, is inspired by Turner's use of light in the sky, blends the realms of nature and humanity, conveys calmness. “Not bad”, you think, “for an amateur”. But this is not just any amateur! Choisy didn’t sell for the price of a house solely because of its technical execution, but also its provenance, and how it furthers our understanding of one of the most important figures of the 20th century.
Be mindful of the date: at the time of this painting's execution in 1946, war had ravaged the world, and Churchill had been unceremoniously rejected in the 1945 British General Election. Yet he painted a vibrant, serene world surrounded by friends, free from the turbulence and destruction that occupied his personal and political life.
Inland view from Choisy, Switzerland embodies the personality and mental fortitude of the artist, and evokes the talents wielded in other areas of Churchill's life and career. It is a physical reminder to the viewer of Churchill’s ability to trigger and harness the spectrum of human emotion with more than just the written word, reinforcing how his work should be appreciated, valued, and viewed.
Painting was a pastime and more to Churchill, he believed painting activated a different part of his brain, improved observation and memory, and served as a therapeutic outlet during stressful times [3]. He once told Sir John Rothenstein, ‘If it weren’t for painting, I couldn’t live. I couldn't bear the strain of things.’
Many long essays have been written about “what is the value of art” (including by me!); clearly the economic value attributed at a point-in-time by an auction is merely one facet. Even a single artwork provides multiple threads to be pulled: not just the scene being portrayed, but so much more. Who made it, and why? What does that tell us about the artist, their perspective, their state of mind, their status? What do the materials used tell us about the available technologies and financial status of the artist? What about the politics, the military history, the social upheavals, even the climate of the region in which the art was painted? What about the economics at the time? And, yes, what about the economics and politics of now: what does four hundred and twenty grand for a painting tell us about our current society, Churchill’s narrative, the art market [4]...
This is a theme we will return to again and again: art provides an opportunity, an excuse, a vehicle to explore so much about our world, the variety, the light and the dark... And we couldn’t be more excited to get started.
[1]
Guaranteed, irrevocable bid- The seller has been guaranteed a minimum price by the auction for the lot being sold. An interested party has provided the auction an ‘irrevocable bid’ which will be executed during the sale at a value that will ensure the sale of the lot regardless if the party is the successful buyer
[2] Compare Inland view from Choisy, Switzerland to Paul Cezanne’s Avenue at the Jas de Bouffan (observe the thick brushwork and how the trees are rendered), and JMW Turner’s Dort or Dordrecht: The Dort packet-boat from Rotterdam becalmed (observe the lightness and colour spectrum of the skies and immense scale and viewpoint he paints the world)
[3] Churchill wrote a book, Painting as Pastime, published in 1948. He repeatedly turned to painting at major pain-points in his career, beginning in 1915 after he was held responsible for the failed Gallipoli campaign which led to his demotion as First Lord of the Admiralty.
[4] One of Churchill's most famous works sold for $8.2 million at a Christie’s auction from Angelina Jolie’s collection in 2021.
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