Churchill's Amaryllis Lily, Gift to His Daughter, Goes to Christie's
Christie's will offer Winston Churchill's Amaryllis Lily (1948), gifted to his daughter Lady Mary Soames, on October 21 in London, estimated at £300,000–£500,000.
Programme
- Christie's will auction Churchill's Amaryllis Lily (1948) in London on October 21.
- The painting carries an estimate of £300,000–£500,000 ($396,000–$661,000).
- Churchill gave the work to his daughter, Lady Mary Soames, who donated it to the Churchill Fellowship in 1995.
- Churchill's auction record is £8.29 million, set in 2021 at Christie's for Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque (1943).
A painting by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Amaryllis Lily (1948), will be auctioned at Christie's London on October 21 as part of the Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale. The work carries an estimate of £300,000–£500,000 ($396,000–£661,000 equivalent: $396,000–$661,000).
The still life depicts a red amaryllis belladonna — a March lily — blooming in a plant pot on a table against a dark backdrop. Churchill gave the painting to his daughter, Lady Mary Soames. She donated it in 1995 to the Churchill Fellowship.
Proceeds from the sale will support the Churchill Fellowship's "Making Space for the Arts" program.
What do specialists say about the work?
"Amaryllis Lily is a striking example of Winston Churchill's skill as a painter, demonstrating his sophisticated understanding of color and composition," Pippa Jacomb, Christie's head of the Modern British and Irish Art evening sale, said in a statement.
"Painted in 1948, the work reflects the important influence of William Nicholson, particularly in its restrained composition and bold use of color, while also revealing the confidence Churchill developed as a still-life painter," Jacomb said.
Who taught Churchill to paint?
Churchill took up painting in the 1930s, when he befriended the artist William Nicholson, who became his mentor. In a letter to the British art historian John Rothenstein, Churchill called Nicholson the "person who taught me most about painting."
The two painted together at Chartwell Manor, Churchill's family home in Kent, where a studio was built in the garden.
How does the estimate compare with Churchill's record?
Churchill's auction record stands far above the current estimate. In 2021, Christie's sold his Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque (1943) for £8.29 million. If Amaryllis Lily reaches its high estimate, it would still fetch less than a tenth of that figure — a measure of the gap between the statesman's wartime Moroccan scene and his domestic still lifes.
Source: ARTnews
