Churchill, painter and writer, in the spotlight in New York
The “old lion” Winston Churchill, hero of the Second World War and British Prime Minister, was also a painter and Nobel Prize winner for literature. Some of his books, letters, speeches, furniture and paintings have been in the spotlight and on sale since Thursday January 18 in New York.
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Winston Churchill’s desk and a portrait of the former British Prime Minister by Hungarian painter Arthur Pan are part of the family collection of American media mogul Steve on sale in New York from January 18 to 28. Photo: AFP /VNA/CVN
These personal items are part of the family collection of American media mogul Steve Forbes and are on offer until January 28 at the Winter Fair of Antiques and Designers in the American economic and cultural capital.
Including an imposing portrait of Churchill seated with his cigar in hand by the Hungarian painter Arthur Pan. The 1943 oil on canvas is offered for 125,000 USD.
“We bought the best, documents, letters, the desk and paintings,” New York dealer and collector of old books Pom Harrington, who is organizing the sale, told AFP.
Born to an American mother and honorary citizen of the United States, this great British figure (1874-1965) was both “a war hero and an outsider”, immensely appreciated in America according to Mr. Harrington who tables on “many American buyers”.
Notably for the office at his London home at Hyde Park Gate where Churchill partly wrote his memoirs of the Second World War, which earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. The piece of furniture is offered at 450,000 USD. The hand-corrected proofs of these memoirs will find a buyer, Mr. Harrington hopes, for 750,000 USD.
Churchill was also an established painter before becoming a war leader and a politician of international stature: a 1935 painting (The Entrance to the Gorge at Todra) created during a tourist trip to Morocco is for sale for 395,000 USD.
Winston Churchill found a place of inspiration in Marrakech and the most famous of his paintings in Morocco, The Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque (1943), was sold in March 2021 by the American actress Angelina Jolie, via the house of Christie’s auction in London, for £7 million at the time.
Finally, an edition of his speeches On Free Trade is also for sale, rejoices Pom Harrington: “I am a collector of rare books and these are things that must be bought,” he says, for 150,000 USD.
AFP/VNA/CVN
2024-01-20 08:03:00
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