A typed letter signed by Winston S. Churchill, dated 8 March 1961, to the sculptor Sir Charles Wheeler, then President of the Royal Academy, following Wheeler's visit to Chartwell to advise on paintings for the Summer Exhibition. With characteristic candor, Churchill explains that one of the works Wheeler admired, thought to resemble a Daubigny, was in fact Churchill's own copy of one:
"I now find that the one you thought resembled a Daubigny was indeed a copy I made of a Daubigny, and I fear it would not thus be suitable for the Summer Exhibition."
He proposes submitting the two remaining paintings Wheeler selected, and suggests a third might be found at Chartwell with the help of his staff.
Churchill began painting in 1915 and remained devoted to it for the rest of his life. Elected Honorary Academician Extraordinary in 1948, he exhibited regularly thereafter, and by 1961 his paintings were recognized as integral to his private world. His refusal here to submit a copy shows the artistic conscience of the distinguished amateur, applied to his own work without ceremony.
Single sheet, 241 x 191 mm, typed on the printed letterhead of 28 Hyde Park Gate, London, signed in blue ink. Minor paperclip impression at the head and light handling creases; excellent overall.
Provenance: Paul C. Richards, Templeton, Massachusetts, 1984 (with original slip noting Item 109); possibly from the group of Churchill letters to Wheeler sold at Christie's, 28 March 1984, lot 32.
A typed letter signed by Winston S. Churchill, dated 8 March 1961, to the sculptor Sir Charles Wheeler, then President of the Royal Academy, following Wheeler's visit to Chartwell to advise on paintings for the Summer Exhibition. With characteristic candor, Churchill explains that one of the works Wheeler admired, thought to resemble a Daubigny, was in fact Churchill's own copy of one:
"I now find that the one you thought resembled a Daubigny was indeed a copy I made of a Daubigny, and I fear it would not thus be suitable for the Summer Exhibition."
He proposes submitting the two remaining paintings Wheeler selected, and suggests a third might be found at Chartwell with the help of his staff.
Churchill began painting in 1915 and remained devoted to it for the rest of his life. Elected Honorary Academician Extraordinary in 1948, he exhibited regularly thereafter, and by 1961 his paintings were recognized as integral to his private world. His refusal here to submit a copy shows the artistic conscience of the distinguished amateur, applied to his own work without ceremony.
Single sheet, 241 x 191 mm, typed on the printed letterhead of 28 Hyde Park Gate, London, signed in blue ink. Minor paperclip impression at the head and light handling creases; excellent overall.
Provenance: Paul C. Richards, Templeton, Massachusetts, 1984 (with original slip noting Item 109); possibly from the group of Churchill letters to Wheeler sold at Christie's, 28 March 1984, lot 32.
Image 1 of 1
