Churchill's paintings step out from private collections for rare public exhibition

A London exhibition presents over 50 paintings by Winston Churchill, revealing a highly productive artistic practice with more than 500 known works. Painting began in 1915 during personal and national crisis, starting as private refuge after the Dardanelles catastrophe and becoming a lasting discipline. The works are arranged largely chronologically and display varied subjects including still life, abstract forms, architecture, landscapes, and battle scenes. Portraits of people are rare and usually appear only at a distance within landscapes. The exhibition includes travel equipment, tools, and personal details tied to European residences. It features early Chartwell works, prize recognition, and notes about building a garden wall by hand.

"The first substantial exhibition of Sir Winston Churchill's paintings has opened in London, bringing together more than 50 of his artworks. Most of us probably know that Churchill often painted to relax, but I doubt many know just how prolific he was. Over 500 paintings are known to exist, which is an output a professional artist would be pleased with."

"Churchill began painting in 1915, at a moment of personal and national crisis. What started as a private refuge after the Dardanelles catastrophe of World War I became a lasting creative discipline. Opening with his early works, the exhibition is largely chronological, and shows a politician with a surprising range of skills, from still life through abstract, architecture and landscapes."

"And as a former war correspondent, he also painted battle landscapes, but rarely painted portraits of people unless they were included at a distance in a landscape. The exhibition is also a bit of a name-dropping exercise, thanks to the Churchills' family being related to pretty much everyone of note in Europe. So Winston had a vast array of places to stay and paint, and it shows in the exhibition, which feels like a travelling tour of European grand homes."

"There is also one of the earliest paintings of his home at Chartwell from 1924, and it was also the first to win a major art prize in 1925. Another painting of a walled garden includes a note that this was the wall he built by hand, and he was invited to join the bricklayers' union as a result. He accepted. Churchill was uncharacteristically shy about his paintings, and when he was finally persuaded to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1947, he did so initially under a pseudonym."

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