News

President of the British Academy publishes Churchill: The Statesman as Artist

6 Sep 2018

A new book published today and edited by the President of the British Academy, Professor Sir David Cannadine, explores Winston Churchill as an artist.


Over almost 50 years, Churchill produced more than 500 paintings. His subjects included his family homes at Blenheim and Chartwell, evocative coastal scenes on the French Riviera, and sun-drenched depictions of Marrakesh in Morocco, as well as still life pictures and a revealing self-portrait, painted during a particularly troubled time in his life. In war and peace, Churchill came to enjoy painting as his primary means of relaxation from the strain of public affairs.


Churchill: The Statesman as Artist is a new perspective on Churchill and his paintings told in his own words and including new unpublished material.


In his introduction to the book, Sir David provides the most important account yet of Churchill’s life in art, which was not just a private hobby, but also, from 1945 onwards, an essential element of his public fame. The first part of the book brings together for the first time all of Churchill’s writings and speeches on art, not only ‘Painting as a Pastime’, but his addresses to the Royal Academy, his reviews of two of the Royal Academy’s summer exhibitions, and an important speech he delivered about art and freedom in 1937.


The second part of the book provides previously uncollected critical accounts of his work by some of Churchill’s contemporaries: Augustus John’s unpublished introduction to the Royal Academy exhibition of Churchill’s paintings in 1959, and essays and reviews by Churchill’s acquaintances Sir John Rothenstein, Professor Thomas Bodkin and the art critic Eric Newton.


The book is illustrated with reproductions of many of Churchill’s paintings, some of them appearing for the first time.


Churchill: The Statesman as Artist is published by Bloombsury Continuum and available now.


Contact the press office

For further information contact the Press Office on [email protected]  / 07500 010 432.

Sign up to our email newsletters