HIBAPRESS – Chafiq Anouri
The Canadian auction house "Heffel" is preparing to offer a rare oil painting painted by the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1935, entitled "Marrakech," for sale.
The painting will be displayed during an auction held by the Canadian house in Toronto on November 19, with an estimated value ranging between 400,000 and 600,000 Canadian dollars. The painting, which Churchill gifted to his wife Clementine, before the latter later donated it to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1956, depicts a scene featuring three women near the walls of the old city of Marrakech and the surrounding palm trees. According to art critics, the "Marrakech" painting reflects the deep love of the former British Prime Minister for Morocco, which he described on more than one occasion as "the most beautiful place in the world." The artwork was published in a number of reference works on Churchill's paintings, including the book "Churchill: His Paintings" by David Coombs, and is considered one of his most prominent works inspired by Morocco, which was a source of artistic inspiration for him during his repeated visits to it in the thirties and forties of the last century. It is worth mentioning that Churchill's paintings inspired by Moroccan landscapes have witnessed a wideقبال in recent years, as his famous painting "Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque" was sold in 2021 at a "Christie's" auction in London for 11.5 million US dollars, and was one of the possessions of the American actress Angelina Jolie, which reflects the increasing status of his artworks in the global art market.
