Hollywood Superstar Angelina Jolie To Auction Off Winston Churchill Art Piece

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Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie to auction off a canvas in her possession that was painted by Winston Churchill.

“Christie’s auction house said Monday that the Moroccan landscape “Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque” — a gift from Churchill to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt — is being sold by Angelina Jolie next month with an estimated price of 1.5 million pounds to 2.5 million pounds ($2.1 million to $3.4 million).”

Experts are saying the sale of the piece could set a record, as some consider it to be Churchill’s “most important work”.

Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt acquired the painting ten years ago in 2011. They announced their divorce in 2016. Interestingly though, it’s the Jolie Family Collection that’s putting the painting up for auction and, since the two are still working out the terms of their divorce, with speculation that money and division of assets is one of the factors, including their “extensive art collection”.

Read More: David Hockney Nichols Canyon Painting Auction Report

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This art piece considered Winston Churchill most important work

The image of the 12th-century mosque in Marrakech at sunset, with the Atlas Mountains in the background, is the only painting that Britain’s World War II leader completed during the 1939-45 conflict.

He painted it after the January 1943 Casablanca Conference, where Churchill and Roosevelt planned the defeat of Nazi Germany. The two leaders visited Marrakech after the conference so that Churchill could show Roosevelt the city’s beauty.

“Roosevelt was blown away by it and thought it was incredible,” said Nick Orchard, head of Christie’s modern British art department. He said Churchill captured the view in the “wonderful, evocative painting” and gave it to Roosevelt as a memento of the trip.

Churchill was a keen amateur artist who completed some 500 paintings after taking up painting in his 40s. Orchard said that “the light in Morocco and over Marrakech was something that Churchill was passionate about” and painted again and again.

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UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill reportedly created the painting after the Casablanca Conference, which brought together the heads of two states in Marrakesh to discuss strategies of defeating Nazi Germany.

A per reports, Churchill gave the painting of Marrakech’s largest mosque to Roosevelt, whose son sold it years later. Having circulated among numerous buyers, the masterpiece of art was acquired by Jolie-Pitt family in 2011.

'Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque' is a part of the art collection Angelina Jolie collected with her ex-husband Brad Pitt. The auction house did not provide more details on how Jolie came to own the painting.

The artwork is due to go on sale on March 1.