What Churchill did in the war …

● A 1943 landscape painted by Winston Churchill and presented to his US counterpart, Franklin Roosevelt, is expected to fetch up to $3.5m (R51m) when it is sold at auction next month.

Churchill painted Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh following the January 1943 Casablanca Conference that both leaders attended. Churchill then took Roosevelt to Marrakesh to see the sun set over the Atlas Mountains.

The work is to be sold from Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie’s Jolie Family

Collection, with an estimated price tag of $2.08m-$3.47m.

“Churchill painted nothing in the Second World War except this one painting,” said Nicholas Orchard, head of the modern British art department at Christie’s.

“Churchill painted it for Roosevelt … And so it signifies not just their friendship but also the special relationship between Britain and America.

“The other factor is that Churchill considered his North African views to be a cut above all his other paintings.”

Churchill, who took up painting in his 40s, first visited Morocco in 1935 and painted about 45 pictures of the country, according to Christie’s.

“The record for a [Churchill] painting at auction is £1.8m (R37m), and likely interested buyers will probably come from the UK and the US,” Orchard said.

“But there’s a much greater global interest, particularly in Churchill. And so we could see Middle Eastern interest, obviously, because of the subject matter, as well as interest from the Far East.”

The painting is leading Christie’s Modern British Art Evening Sale on March 1, when other works on offer include a portrait of socialite Doris Delevingne by John Lavery.