![Left: Sir Winston Churchill, ‘Scene at Marrakech’ [detail], c. 1935, oil on canvas. Part of ‘Modern British Art Evening Sale’ 1 March at Christie’s. Right: November 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) [detail]. Photo by Walter Stoneman/Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Photo © Christie’s](https://images.prismic.io/barnebys/f094c79d-bd5f-4b33-8a50-c680b0666b33_Cover.jpg?auto=format,compress)
A landscape by Sir Winston Churchill is heading to auction on March 1 at Christie’s. The oil on canvas from c. 1935, titled Scene at Marrakech, will form part of the auction house’s Modern British Art Evening Sale, with an estimate of £300,000-500,000 ($400,000-675,000).
The work stands among the best paintings executed by Churchill in the 1930s.
The painting was a gift from Churchill to Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, a distinguished general of the Second World War who was instrumental in the retreat from the battle of Dunkirk, which saved many allied lives. Montgomery formed a vital role in the tactics that delivered the eventual victory for allied forces in 1945.
Scene at Marrakech has remained with the Montgomery family since it was gifted by Churchill. This therefore marks the first time it is being offered at auction.
Many of Churchill’s friends, including his tutor in painting, Sir John Lavery, encouraged Churchill to visit Morocco. He visited the country for the first time in 1935 and became inspired by the warmth and the soft, buttery light that the landscape and environment held. Scene at Marrakech amasses these facets, providing a dramatic contrast between the intensely warm desert sand with the blue stream that covers the foreground, while also bringing energy to the vivid greens and vegetation of the background.
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Churchill, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, and again from 1951 to 1955, was introduced to painting during a family holiday in June 1915. He continued the hobby throughout his lifetime and completed hundreds of works. He painted other scenes of Morocco and Marrakech, but the present painting is considered to be one of Churchill’s more accomplished works of the subject matter.
Nick Orchard, Head of Department, Modern British Art at Christie’s, says, “Sir Winston Churchill’s gift of his painting, Scene at Marrakech, to Field Marshal Montgomery symbolizes the deep respect and friendship the Prime Minister held for his general... An accomplished artist as well as a celebrated political figure, the work stands among the best paintings executed by Churchill in the 1930s.”
