An auction for a rare Winston Churchill painting once owned by former power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie has sold for more than $11.5 million, breaking its high presale estimate after fees. Titled Tower of Koutoubia Mosque, it depicts a Moroccan mosque at sunset and once formed part of Jolie family collection before selling on March 1 at Christie’s Modern British Art evening sale for twice its estimated high presale estimate price.
Churchill’s oil-on-canvas work has set a new record price, beating out 2014 when The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell sold for nearly $2 Million, as reported by BBC. Christie’s regards it as one of his “most important and significant works.”
Churchill first picked up painting at age 40, after being removed as the First Lord of the Admiralty following Gallipoli. Soon thereafter he found great passion in this medium, producing over 500 works during his lifetime – using them to document key events of his life such as World War I; Ploegsteert Wood in Flanders where he led battalions during this war; and his 1943 trip to Marrakech which led directly to Casablanca Conference and eventual victory of allies over Axis forces during World War II.
After Churchill died in 1965, his painting passed through several hands until coming into possession of the Jolie family, who gave it as a present to then President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama upon becoming presidential couple in 2011. Since then it has been sold numerous times through antique dealers before eventually ending up at an antique dealer in New Orleans.
According to The New York Times, one of the most sought-after pieces in Angelina Jolie’s collection was this painting, expected to sell for between $2.3 and $3.49 million at auction on March 1. However, after nine minutes of bidding war it actually achieved twice its initial estimated price and sold for nearly double what had initially been stated as expected.
Christie’s reports that the winning bidder for these works was an anonymous telephone buyer bidding through Olivier Camu, an expert on Belgian Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. According to auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen, this sale demonstrates “the increasing demand for Sir Winston Churchill’s art.” No matter its historical or Hollywood connections, Churchill’s painting has not gone without criticism. Some question whether its depiction of a sunset could actually be depicting sunrise instead. And if that were indeed the case, some speculate as to whether Churchill knew or was even aware of that fact at the time. This work of visual poetry conveys stillness to human souls while conveying beauty, and will likely find a home among discerning collectors. Additionally, this piece has personal significance for Jolie who was born in Marrakech Morocco. A portion of the auction’s proceeds will be donated to The Jolie Foundation for Children’s Welfare and Art, an organization with numerous projects designed to give children and youth opportunities to gain skills, build confidence and independence through arts and sports.