Winston Churchill
Loch Choire, Scotland
1919

About the Item

"View of Loch Choire" is an oil on canvas board painting made by Winston Churchill in 1919. The artwork size is 17 7/8 x 14 inches. The framed size 22 1/8 x 18 1/8 x 2 3/8 inches. The artwork is signed lower left, "WSC". Painted while staying at Dunrobin Castle, the estate of the Duke of Sutherland, Churchill chose to set his easel behind a tree where he likely thought of it as a framing device, adding a layer of depth, creating a stronger sense of foreground, middle ground, and background, enhancing the three-dimensionality of the picture. Churchill painted at both Dunrobin as well as the Duke’s Sutton Place estate, later the home of John Paul Getty. As Mary Soames describes it in her book, Winston Churchill, His Life as a Painter, “1921 had been a year of heavy personal tidings” for Churchill and his family, as he lost both his mother, Jennie Cornwallis-West, and his beloved child, Marigold, aged nearly four. In a letter to his wife Clementine, Churchill wrote, “… Many tender thoughts, my darling one of you and yr sweet kittens. Alas I keep on feeling the hurt of the Duckadilly [Marigold’s pet name].” That Churchill chose to stay with the Duke and Duchess at Dunrobin just after Marigold’s death speaks to their close friendship and his fondness for the area, including Loch Choire. It is no surprise that Churchill gifted the painting to the Duke of Sutherland. Provenance: Duke of Sutherland Clare Duchess of Sutherland, by descent from above Private Collection, April 2006 Exhibition: London, Royal Academy, Paintings by the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Churchill, K.G. O.M, C.H., M.P, Hon. R.A., 1959, exhibition not numbered New York, New York World’s Fair, April-October 1965, catalogue not traced Literature: D. Coombs and M. Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings, Lyme Regis, 2011, p. 27, no. C 51, fig. 29

Creator:
Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965, British)
Creation Year:
1919
Dimensions:
Height: 17.87 in (45.39 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)
Medium:
Canvas,Oil
Movement & Style:
Impressionist
Period:
Early 20th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Palm Desert, CA
Reference Number:
Seller: 457431stDibs: LU9314030852
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