Churchill painting owned by Jolie auctioned off
LONDON: A painting of the Marrakesh landscape by Britain’s wartime PM Winston Churchill, owned by Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, smashed expectations as it sold for £7 million or $9.75 million (without factoring in commission) at a high-profile auction in London on Monday.
Churchill, a keen artist, had taken inspiration from the Moroccan city and painted The Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque oil work during a World War II visit in 1943. He had gifted the painting to fellow wartime leader, US president Franklin Roosevelt. Auction house Christie’s called it “Churchill’s most important work”.
The painting eventually found its way into the hands of actress Jolie, who then recently put it up for sale.
After frenzied bidding, the gavel came down at £7 million, smashing the pre-sale expectations of £1.5 to £2.5 million. Christie’s tweeted that the final selling price with commission was £8.2 million ($11.41mn).
Two more of his paintings also went under the hammer, with the three works together fetching £9.43 million ($13.12 million).