Churchill, Winston | An iconic Churchill portrait, signed

The Passion of American Collectors: Property of Barbara and Ira Lipman

Churchill, Winston

Photographic half-length portrait, signed ("Winston Churchill"), by Vivienne, 20th Century Studios Ltd., London, ca. 1950

Vintage black and white photograph (202 x 250 mm). Signed "Vivienne London" in lower left, signed by Churchill on the mount; some toning and foxing to mount. Matted, glazed, and framed; not examined out of frame.  

One of Churchill's favorite portraits, which was used for his 1950 his election campaign

The present photograph was taken by Florence Vivienne Mellish, Churchill's daughter Sarah's mother-in-law. Mellish was known as "the Grand Old Lady of the Camera", and famously insisted that her subjects come to her studio, rather than she to them. Churchill, however, proved to be the exception to this rule. He spared Mellish a mere ten minutes, in which she was able to produced nine studies, the present one being used for the election campaign of 1950.