Sunset over the Atlas Mountains - Oil Painting by Winston Churchill
Friday, April 25, 2008
“Sunset over the Atlas Mountains,” a circa 1935 oil painting by Winston Churchill went under hammer during Bonhams New York auction in 23 April. This is one painting that Winston adored so much that he invited President Franklin D. Roosevelt to see it even after years later. This vivacious countryside depicting Churchill’s balcony at the Mamounia Hotel in Marrakech was anticipated to fetch $600,000. Churchill invited Roosevelt to travel with him to Marrakech after a conference in Casablanca in 1943 so he could experience the beautiful view for himself.The painting by Winston Churchill of a Moroccan sunset -- a view he loved so much that he invited President Franklin D. Roosevelt to see it -- has sold for $350,000 (220,000 euros).After Churchill's death in 1965, the oil painting went to a daughter, who sold it to a private collector in Texas. The collector sold it in 1992 to the family of the San Francisco owner who auctioned it Wednesday.
Churchill, who began painting for relaxation and loved working in brilliant colors, often did not sign his work, including "Sunset," so as not to influence judges, Bonhams European paintings specialist Malcolm Walker said. "He was as good as an amateur artist will get," Walker said before the sale. A 1948 Churchill painting, "Marrakech," depicting the city's gates against the backdrop of the Atlas mountains, sold at auction for about $950,000 (596,000 euros) in December 2007. Earlier that year, his painting "Chartwell Landscape with Sheep" sold for $2.06 million (1.29 million euros), a record for him.
