Winston Churchill Painting Sells For a Record $1.2M
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A 1951 painting of Marrakech that Winston Churchill gave to General George Marshall sold for a record $1.2 million at auction in London yesterday.
The picture was sold at Sotheby’s by Marshall’s great-granddaughter, the film actress Kitty Winn.
Britain’s wartime prime minister gave the picture to the architect of Western Europe’s postwar construction with a letter that read: “I send you herewith the picture I mentioned to you and your wife the other day. It was painted in January 1951 at a place called Tinherir.”
Marshall’s wife replied, “My dear Sir Winston, yesterday was a gala day for me, for we hung your painting. It has added so much to the beauty of our drawing-room and has the place of honor.”
Churchill used painting and building brick walls as a means of relaxation from a life of politics and writing. The previous most expensive Churchill, “On the Rance, near St. Malo” (1921), fetched $680,000 at Christie’s in June last year. His “Palms near Marrakech” (1954) sold for $450,000 last month.
