Churchill’s painting in Jolie’s collection auctioned off at $11.5 million

Winston Churchill’s painting, which was in actress Angelina Jolie’’s collection for 10 years after her ex-husband Brad Pitt gifted it to her, has become the most expensive painting of the former British prime minister. He painted it during the Second World War and gifted it to the then U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt. It fetched 11.5 million dollars at an auction held at Christie's in London on Monday (local time).

The painting titled “Tower of Koutoubia Mosque (1939∼1945, Photo)” depicts a scenery in Marrakech, Morocco, in the hot sun. Warm colors for the sunlight and long shadows are impressive. “Churchill fell in love with the sunlight when he visited Morocco for the first time in 1935,” said an insider of Christie’s in London. “He was most confident about the paintings of Morocco himself.”

It is the only painting that he drew during the Second World War. He suggested Roosevelt to watch the sunset near Marrakech right after the summit in Casablanca, Morocco, in January 1943. He finished and gifted the painting to Roosevelt the next day to commemorate their time together. According to CNN, Jolie received the painting from Pitt in 2011.

Churchill started painting in his 40s and left more than 50 pieces. Some of his paintings have been auctioned at a high price recently. Another painting of his was actioned at 1.7 million dollars at Sotheby's in London in 2014.


Min Kim kimmin@donga.com