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| Sir Winston Churchill at Work |
By now, most of us plein air painters
have heard that Sir Winston Churchill, the twice-Prime Minister of
England who steered that country through World War II, was also an
avid outdoor painter. I don't remember when I first learned of his
hobby. I did get a copy of his little book, Painting as a Pastime,
several years ago.
Recently, I started watching The Crown,
Netflix's serial bio-pic on Queen Elizabeth II. The first season
shows Churchill, played admirably by John Lithgow, pursuing his hobby
whenever possible. He was about as serious as an amateur can get
without taking that final step of "going pro."
The series renewed my interest in
Churchill. While doing some research, I discovered
another book, Winston Churchill: His Life as a Painter. It's a
memoir written by his daughter, Mary Soames, and published in 1990.
Although the book focuses on Churchill's activities as a painter,
both outdoor and studio, the setting is that of world events. I was
intrigued to learn that he was such a dedicated painter that he even
took his paintbox out to the battlefield. He found a few moments
when the shells weren't whistling overhead to paint a sketch or two.
By the way, although he started off
painting from life, early on he
learned the advantages of using photographs as a reference. He also
projected lantern slides and traced them, especially for portraits
and buildings, where accuracy in drawing is critical:
Having discovered painting in the middle age of a crowded life, he was loath to spend precious time mastering draughtsmanship, and in the lantern and slides he had found a sensible short-cut which greatly helped him. ... But he never became rigidly tied to photographic methods; he simply employed them as useful aids. My chief memories are of him at his easel, painting directly on the canvas.
The book includes many paintings by
Churchill. The reader can see how his painting skills improved over
time. Some of this is thanks to studying with painters such as
Walter Sickert, but—and my students should appreciate this—also
through dedicated practice. I've included below one of my favorite
paintings.
The book is out of print, of course,
but you can find used copies on Amazon.
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| "On the Var, South of France" 1935 by Winston S. Churchill |
