LONDON: A photo of Marrakesh by famous British prime minister Winston Churchill, owned by Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, beat the $ 9.75 million auction at an auction in London on Monday.
Churchill, an avid artist, was inspired by the Moroccan city and painted the oil work of the “Koutoubia Mosque Tower” during his visit in World War II in 1943.
He presented the finished article to wartime co-director, US president Franklin Roosevelt.
Auction House Christie has been described as “Churchill’s most important work.”
“Apart from his illustrious reputation, this was the only landscape he chewed on during the war,” he said.
The work eventually found its way into the hands of actress Angelina Jolie, who recently put up for sale. (AFP)
The work eventually found its way into the hands of actress Angelina Jolie, who recently put up for sale.
After frenzied claims, much of it was done over the phone, the gavel eventually came down at $ 9.75 million, breaking pre-sale expectations between $ 2.08 and $ 3.47 million.
Christie’s said in a tweet that the commission sales figure is $ 11.38 million.
Two more of his paintings went under the hammer, with the three works together earning $ 13.09 million.
As a career army officer before entering politics, Churchill began painting relatively late, at the age of 40.
His interest in the light of Marrakesh’s movement, far removed from the political storms and obscene skies in London, dates back to the 1930s when most of Morocco was a French protector.
He went on to make six appearances for the North African country over 23 years.
“Here in these wide palm grooves rising from the desert the traveler can be assured of lasting sunshine … and can think with relentless satisfaction of the panoramic view and snowy mountains of the Atlas,” he wrote in 1936 in the British newspaper the Daily Mail. .
Churchill was inspired by the Moroccan city and painted the oil plant “Koutoubia Mosque Tower” during a visit in World War II in 1943. (AFP)
He would set his hammer on the balconies of the city’s grandiose La Mamounia or Villa Taylor hotel, popular with the 1970s European jet set.
It was from the city, after a historical conference in January 1943 in Casablanca with Roosevelt and Charles de Gaulle from France, that he painted what became what was considered his best work, of the minaret behind the Old Town rampart, with hills behind and small colorful figures in front.
“You can’t come all the way to North Africa without seeing Marrakesh,” he reportedly told Roosevelt. “I have to be with you when you see the sun set on the Atlas Mountains.”
A newspaper photo taken at the time shows the two wartime Allied leaders enjoying a sunset.
After the U.S. delegation left, Churchill stayed for an extra day and painted the view of the Koutoubia Mosque framed by the mountains.
He sent it to Roosevelt for his birthday.
“This is Churchill’s diplomacy at the most personal and intense level,” said Nick Orchard, Christie’s head of British and Irish modern art.
“It’s not a normal gift between leaders. This is soft power, and it’s about what the special relationship is about. ”
Churchill’s second landscape, “Scene in Marrakesh,” was painted on his first visit to Morocco in 1935, which had sold earlier for $ 2.08 million.
That was painted while living in Mamounia, where he marveled at the “truly amazing panorama over the tops of orange trees and olives,” in a letter to his wife Clementine.
Churchill’s painting of St Paul’s Cathedral in London was also sold for $ 1.2 million.