Lot 6
  • 6

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, K.G., O.M., F.R.S., HON. R.A. | Mimizan

Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 GBP
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Description

  • Sir Winston Churchill, K.G., O.M., C.H., Hon. R.A.
  • Mimizan
  • signed with initials
  • oil on canvas
  • 56.5 by 36cm.; 22¼ by 14in.
  • Executed circa the 1920s.

Provenance

Gifted by the Artist to Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein in 1950
His sale, Sotheby's London, 26th November 1969, lot 260, where acquired by Mr and Mrs Arthur Cload
Gifted by the above to the Winston Churchill Society of Edmonton, Alberta

Exhibited

Edmonton, Government House, long-term loan, 1991-2006

Literature

David Coombs, Churchill: His Paintings, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1967, cat. no.124, illustrated p.130;
David Coombs and Minnie S. Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill His Life and His Paintings, Ware House Publishing, Lyme Regis, 2011, cat. no.62, illustrated p.46.

Condition

The canvas is original. There is a very faint stretcher bar mark along the upper edge. The canvas has become worn to the extreme corners of the work, particularly at the upper left edge. There is an Artist's pinhole to the lower left corner. There are a couple of very small flecks of loss, one to the water in between the second and third trees from the left and one to the undergrowth on the nearside bank just to the left of the third tree from the left, with one or two possible smaller flecks elsewhere and one or two possible flattening to impasto tips. There are some fine lines of craquelure, visible under close inspection, in places, including in the lower third and towards the centre of the left edge, with possible further very minor instances elsewhere. There is a small scratch just below centre of the right edge and a vertical light scuff between the second and third trees from the left, most likely in keeping with the Artist's working methods. There is some surface dirt to the work. Subject to the above, the work appears in very good overall condition. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals a small number of tiny spots of isolated fluorescence and probable retouching, including to the centre of the extreme upper edge, which have been very sensitively executed. The work is held behind glass in a painted and gilt composite frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

We are grateful to David Coombs for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

During the 1920s, Churchill was a frequent guest at the Woolsack in Mimizan on Les Landes, near Bordeaux, which was the French hunting lodge of his friend Bendor, Duke of Westminster. Mimizan was a large estate with extensive woodland and a large lake, with herds of deer and wild boar, which the Duke enjoyed hunting. The Duke always brought together a lively party at Woolsack including celebrities of the period such as Coco Chanel, Charlie Chaplin and Salvador Dalí as well as the artist Sir John Lavery, one of Churchill’s personal friends and, crucially, the artist who taught him so much about painting.

Churchill was especially drawn to the woodland on the estate and completed a long series of paintings that focused on the trees. The present work is a strong example with the tall trees providing a dynamic contrast to the lake and horizontal focus of the water bank in the background. The fluid brushwork and bold colour palette undoubtedly draw inspiration from the work of the French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists who Churchill first came across in Paris: ‘Have not Monet and Manet, Cézanne and Matisse rendered to painting something of the same service which Keats and Shelley gave to poetry after the solemn and ceremonious literary perfections of the eighteenth century? They have brought back to the pictorial art a new draught of joie de vivre; and the beauty of their work is instinct with gaiety, and floats in sparkling air…’ (Churchill, ‘Painting as a Pastime’, quoted in Coombs and Churchill, op.cit., 2011, p.71).

Provenance plays such an important part in Churchill’s oeuvre. He never sold a work during his lifetime and the vast majority were given to friends, colleagues, employees, foreign dignitaries or family members. It is significant that Churchill gave the present painting to Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, nicknamed 'Monty' and 'The Spartan General' who was ennobled after WWII. Montgomery had served in both World Wars and his leadership at the Second Battle of El Alamein was a significant turning point in the Western Desert Campaign. Prime Minister David Lloyd George was also the recipient of a Mimizan landscape.  

Sold to Benefit the Winston Churchill Society of Edmonton, Alberta
The Edmonton Society is the first in the world and was endorsed by Sir Winston during his lifetime. It supports graduate and undergraduate scholarships in engineering, science and history at Churchill College, Cambridge, Oxford University, and at the University of Alberta. High School students are also supported with scholarships to honour speech and debate.