Churchill Museum and Kemper Art Museum Display Unprecedented Churchill Painting Exhibit
The most significant collection of Churchill paintings ever exhibited in North America will be on public display in Missouri this fall thanks to a collaboration between the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
“The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill” will be exhibited November 13, 2015, through February 14, 2016, at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.
The National Churchill Museum collaborated with the Kemper Art Museum on this project as a part of ”Churchill 2015,” a worldwide commemoration of the life and legacy of Sir Winston Churchill on the 50th anniversary of his death.
“The National Churchill Museum is dedicated to educating Americans about the life and legacy of Winston Churchill,” says Dr. Jim Williams, Executive Director of the Museum. “This exhibition is a major leap forward for our efforts. We are delighted to be working with the Kemper Art Museum to bring this international exhibition to St. Louis.”
The exhibition will include Churchill paintings in public and private collections loaned from more than a dozen different sources, including Churchill’s historic family estate, Chartwell, and represents five decades of Churchill landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and portraits.
The National Churchill Museum displays three of Churchill’s paintings. Two of them are on temporary loan for this special exhibition.
A self-proclaimed pastime painter, Churchill did not begin painting until the age of 40. Although he received no formal training as an artist, he pursued the hobby with the characteristic passion he displayed in all his endeavors and it became a lifelong interest.
“Art is to beauty what honor is to honesty,” Churchill said. He fondly referred to his landscapes as “bottled sunshine.”
Among Churchill’s 573 total paintings, 350 are landscapes or seascapes. His attention to color and the reflection of light and color on water are his most frequent subjects.
The upcoming exhibit will include works that Churchill personally selected and presented to Presidents Roosevelt and Eisenhower.
The United Kingdom National Trust for Places of Historic Interest is a chief lender to the exhibition. It is supported by an indemnity from the US Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities.
