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Iconic British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965), painter and writer in his spare time, found Marrakech a place of inspiration “Captivating”. The most famous of his paintings painted in Morocco will be auctioned on Monday 1er at Christie’s in London.
“The tower of the Koutoubia mosque”, a painting painted on the occasion of an official visit during the Second World War, is fueling speculation, with estimates ranging from 1.7 million euros to 2.8 million euros, according to the Christie’s website.
The oil on canvas offered for sale by American actress Angelina Jolie is considered “Like Sir Winston’s most important painting” because of his “Interweaving in the history of the XXe century “, writes British art historian Barry Phipps in the catalog.
The Conservative leader started painting late, when he was 40 years old. Whoever liked to flee political storms and the grayness of London had discovered the light of the ocher city of Marrakech in the 1930s, at the time of the French protectorate, and made a total of six trips there in twenty-three years.
“High Atlas covered with snow”
“Here, in these vast palm groves emerging from the desert, the traveler can be sure of eternal sunshine” and “Contemplate with incessant satisfaction the majestic and snow-covered panorama of the Atlas Mountains”, he wrote in 1936 in the British newspaper Daily Mail.
The political monster liked to get lost in the maze of streets of the old town, go on a picnic in the Ourika valley, on the heights of Marrakech, and set up his easel on the balconies of the grand hotel La Mamounia or the Villa Taylor, which would become a landmark of the European jet set in the 1970s.
It is from this villa that he painted the Koutoubia Mosque, after the historic Anfa conference, organized in January 1943 in Casablanca with the American President Franklin Roosevelt and the leader of the Free French Forces, General de Gaulle, and in presence of Sultan Mohammed V, to prepare the strategy of the Allies.
A legend reported by his entourage has it that at the time he said to Roosevelt: “You cannot go all this way in North Africa without seeing Marrakech (…) I must be with you when you see the sunset over the Atlas Mountains. “
Now the property of the Moroccan royal family, Villa Taylor can no longer be visited. The place offers “An exceptional view over the medina, on the Bab Doukkala side, to the Koutoubia mosque and in the background the High Atlas covered with snow”, according to Abderrazzak Benchaâbane, one of the botanists of the famous Majorelle Garden in Marrakech.
A period press photograph shows Roosevelt and Churchill together admiring the sunset over the panorama that will inspire the painting.
This simple and unadorned landscape represents the minaret, symbol of power of the Almohad dynasty (XIIe century), entwined by the ramparts of the ancient city and leaning against the snow-capped mountains.
Churchill offered it to Roosevelt at the time. Sold by one of the sons of the former US president in the 1950s, the painting changed hands several times, before landing in 2011 in the collection of Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, long before their separation.
“Remarkable panorama”
From Churchill’s first visit to Morocco in 1935, another canvas has remained, “Scene in Marrakech”, also up for auction at Christie’s in early March.
Estimated between 340,000 to 578,000 euros, the painting represents a detail of the palm grove at the foot of the Atlas.
At the time, the deputy was staying at the La Mamounia hotel, where he painted seven canvases and worked on a biography of his ancestor, General Marlborough, according to Celia Sandys, one of his granddaughters who undertook in 2002 a memorial trip to Morocco.
Inexhaustible on La Mamounia, Mr. Churchill appreciates the “Truly remarkable panorama” from his room, as he says in a letter to his wife Clémentine.
“He used to go from balcony to balcony to watch for the light, as if to better capture the colors and reproduce them on his canvases”, assures Meryem Mikou, communication manager of the palace.
During its successive renovations, the luxury hotel has only kept from these illustrious passages a suite and a bar that bear its name.
