BRUSHES WITH FAME
MARION MCMULLEN finds out who has got etchy feet when it comes to the world of celebrity art
1 HOLLYWOOD star Angelina Jolie is selling her wartime painting by Sir Winston Churchill. The 1943 landscape, Tower Of The Koutoubia Mosque, is thought to be the only painting he did when he led the country through the Second World War. It is expected to make up to £2.5m at Christie’s auction house on March 1. Churchill produced hundreds of canvases during his life and his work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy.
2 PRINCE CHARLES is a keen painter and favours watercolour landscapes. His love of painting was highlighted in 2013 TV documentary Royal Paintbox and he staged an exhibition of Alpine and Scottish mountain scenes in Klosters in the 1990s to thank the people of the town for their hospitality over the years. Some of the work was reproduced on table mats for charity.
3 FORMER US President George W Bush turned to art after his term in office and has exhibited many of his works. He has painted world leaders and his book Out Of Many, One last year showcased his oil paintings of American immigrants.
4 ROLLING STONE Ronnie Wood has painted portraits of his fellow band mates and fellow music stars like Madonna and Bob Dylan over the years. His Ronnie Wood x Ashridge House exhibition last year featured nearly 100 original artworks including some painted during lockdown.
5 FORMER James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan started his career training as a graphic artist and is now widely regarded for his art work.
His portrait of Bob Dylan sold for $1.8m at a charity auction in 2018.
6 OL’ BLUE EYES Frank Sinatra was an art lover and enjoyed painting in his spare time. The entertainer gave his work as gifts to friends like Ronald and Nancy Reagan and he was also an avid collector of modern art and owned works by Picasso, Chagall and Walter Kuhn.
7 ROCKY and Rambo star Sylvester Stallone has said his first love is art and his work includes paintings of Errol Flynn and Marilyn Monroe. He attended the opening of his art exhibition Sylvester Stallone Painting From 1975 Until Today at the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg in 2013.
8 WHEN not acting, Hollywood star Jane Seymour (below) can be found in her painting studio. The Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman actress has exhibited in numerous galleries and also took part in the BBC’S Celebrity Painting Challenge in 2019. She says art has helped her during emotional times. “When I’m painting, I feel a calmness.”
9 ACTOR Sir Anthony Hopkins paints in all mediums and has worked on everything from landscapes to self portraits. He has said he started painting and playing the piano when he was five and would often draw on scripts. A collection of his artwork was seen at the Gallery 27 in London in 2010 (right).
10 AMERICAN singer songwriter Bob Dylan has been painting since the 1960s and his Drawn Blank series was created while touring the world in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He says he paints mostly from life and his American landscapes, The Beaten Path, were first exhibited at London’s Halcyon Gallery in 2016.