Sir Winston Churchill, K.G., O.M., F.R.S., HON. R.A.

Sarah, Lady Audley
Diana Guest, daughter of Frederick Guest, Churchill's first cousin, and thence by descent to the present owner

Exhibition tour to the USA, 1958, details untraced;
Montreal, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Churchill Exhibition, Box No.3, details untraced;
London, Royal Academy, Winston Churchill, 1959. 

'The Paintings of Winston Churchill', LIFE, 7th January 1946, illustrated;
'Winston Churchill's Pictures', The Strand Magazine, August 1946, illustrated;
Winston S. Churchill, Painting as a Pastime, 1948, illustrated;
David Coombs with Minnie Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill's Life Through His Paintings, Chaucer Press, London, 2003, no.C8, fig.253, illustrated p.129.

The following condition report was prepared by the restorer Hamish Dewar. Structural Condition The canvas is unlined and providing a generally stable support, although there are two small areas of flaking in the purple pigments of the flowers. These could be locally stabilised and treated and I would be confident that this would ensure long-term structural stability without having to resort to lining. Paint Surface The paint surface has a quite marked but stable pattern of drying craquelure which is as a result of the artist's materials. The paint surface should respond extremely well to cleaning and I would be very confident of a considerable colour change and improvement in the overall appearance. Inspection under ultraviolet light shows a quite large and obviously crudely applied retouching in the upper left of the background (which has a corresponding area of repair on the reverse of the canvas). This retouching measures approximately 5 cm x 6 cm but I am confident that should it be removed during the cleaning process a far smaller retouchings would be required. There are also retouchings on the left vertical framing edge and other small scattered spots and lines. Summary The paint surface therefore appears to be in essentially good condition but does require localised consolidation of small areas of unstable paint and should respond very well to cleaning, restoration and revarnishing. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

'I think the person who taught me most about painting was William Nicholson' (Winston Churchill, quoted in Andrew Nicholson, William Nicholson, London, 1996, p.239).

William Nicholson first came to see the Churchills at Chartwell when he was commissioned to paint a double portrait of Winston and Clementine for their silver wedding anniversary in 1934. Nicholson immediately became great friends with the family, and continued to paint with Churchill at Chartwell up until the Second World War. Mary Soames described her fondness for the artist. 'When he wasn't painting, or talking to Winston about painting, he would often come to my schoolroom (in 1934 I was twelve) to play a lovely game he had invented... He would also draw my pug-dog; and he never tired of sketching our beautifully marked marmalade cat.' Nicholson became close to the whole family. 'Despite his own quiet variety of charm, William seemed to tolerate our family's occasional uproariousness. Clementine soon became devoted to 'S'William', as we called him after he was knighted in 1936.' (Andrew Nicholson, William Nicholson, London, 1996, p.239).

Although the present work has been dated on the reverse, circa 1928, the incredible similarity between the present work and William Nicholson's Sweet Sultana and Others suggests that the artists painted these works side by side from a still life at Chartwell in the early 1930s. The thick impasto depicting the drapery in the background is specific to both works and conveys the powerful connection between the artists' working methods. There are deviations in the composition and paint handling which determine Churchill's individual style. The stalk of a flower descends to the table in Churchill's painting, whereas Nicholson seems to have painted his out. A reddish flower with a yellow stamen on the far left of the posy is visible in Nicholson's painting but is absent in Churchill's.

Churchill acknowledged the great debt he owed to Nicholson in his training as an artist to John Rothenstein, then Director of the Tate Gallery, when he said 'I think the person who taught me most about painting was William Nicholson'. Writing home from the South of France during a painting trip in the early 1930s, Winston described his artistic development to his wife, 'I have painted four pictures and begun another. I think the Notre Dame de Vie, a la Nicholson – vy luminous. It is the best I think I have yet done.' (Nicholson, op. cit., p.239).

We are grateful to David Coombs for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.