A wartime painting by Sir Winston Churchill has sold for £8,285,000 at auction.
The landscape, titled Tower Of The Koutoubia Mosque, is thought to be the only painting the former prime minister did as he led the country through the Second World War.
The 1943 work was sold by the actress Angelina Jolie on Monday at Christie’s auction house, which said the price is a new record for a painting by the late politician.
#AuctionUpdate A new #WorldAuctionRecord for Sir Winston Churchill with 'Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque' (1943) selling for £8,285,000. This is the only painting created by Churchill during the Second World War: https://t.co/JCBvGaFShW pic.twitter.com/iZMumvmwp2
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 1, 2021
It was gifted by Sir Winston, who was a keen painter, to then US president Franklin D Roosevelt, as a memento of the men’s visit there following the Casablanca Conference of 1943, according to Christie’s.
It had been estimated to fetch between £1.5 million and £2.5 million.
Christie’s previously said Sir Winston created around 45 paintings depicting Moroccan landscapes after he was encouraged to visit the country by his art tutor Sir John Lavery.
However Tower Of The Koutoubia Mosque is the only painting the wartime leader created between 1939 and 1945, according to the auction house.
Throughout his life Sir Winston produced hundreds of canvases and his work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy.