Last updated: 03/08/2025
Churchill the Painter
Churchill is deeply woven into the history of the 20th century. While juggling world affairs and political crises, he found time to create over 500 paintings throughout his life. Far from being just a political hobby, Churchill's paintings reveal the contemplative, artistic soul behind the tough exterior of one of history's greatest leaders.
Winston Churchill received encouragement to seriously develop his art practice after receiving an amateur prize for 5 paintings he sent to Paris in the 1920’s. The paintings Churchill entered in the competition were some of his earliest works; lacking confidence in himself as an artist, Churchill actually submitted his work under a pseudonym. However, his winning the contest inspired him to take painting more seriously and paint under his true name.
Churchill possessed the heightened perception of an artistic genius to which no scene is common place. Churchill had the dedication of a true craftsman and understood the principles of art. He consulted professional art teachers and adopted the principles of Ruskin's The Elements of Drawing. He spent time in Avignon, France studying the elegant Provençal light that inspired so many artists before him.
Still Life with Peppers
Painted between 1934 and 1935 at his cherished Chartwell estate, this still life showcases his bold color mastery through vibrant reds and purples of peppers and aubergines, masterfully contrasted with gleaming silver and soft tablecloth folds. The composition reflects influences from his mentor Sir William Nicholson, who frequently visited Chartwell, and parallels works by N.C. Wyeth, whose art Churchill admired enough to display in his Boston hotel room during a trip to the United States. Though created purely for personal enjoyment, this painting was later gifted to Swiss banker Alfred Kern, who hosted Churchill at Villa Choisy in 1946 during his landmark Zurich speech advocating European unity – the lakeside retreat offering Churchill serenity as he worked to establish post-war peace in Europe.
Painting to Churchill was half passion and half philosophy; it was in this practice that he found another world. Painting was a means to escape from the pressures of his life. This quote sums up Churchill’s fulfilling relationship with the hobby, “When I get to heaven I mean to spend a considerable portion of my first million years painting, and so to get to the bottom of the subject.”
Explore available Winston Churchill original paintings for sale at M.S. Rau.
