The canvas painted by Winston Churchill and entitled "The tower of the Koutoubia mosque", during its presentation by Christie's in London on February 17, 2021. -

Frank Augstein / AP / SIPA

Estimates gave a value of between 1.7 and 2.8 million euros for the painting "The tower of the Koutoubia mosque" painted in 1943 by Winston Churchill.

But the experts were ultimately far from it.

The work, produced on the occasion of an official visit by the former British Prime Minister to Morocco during World War II, was auctioned on Monday in London for 7 million pounds sterling (8.1 million euros) by Christie's auction house.

The oil on canvas offered for sale by actress Angelina Jolie is considered "to be Sir Winston Churchill's most important painting" because of its "interweaving in the history of the twentieth century," said the historian of British art Barry Phipps in the catalog.

With the costs, the amount of the sale amounts to 8.285 million pounds (nearly 9.6 million euros), tweeted the Christie's house.

A gift to Roosevelt

On the work, we can see a simple and unadorned landscape with the minaret, symbol of power of the Almohad dynasty (12th century), entwined by the ramparts of the ancient city of Marrakech and leaning against the snow-capped mountains.

Churchill gave it to Roosevelt at the time.

Sold by one of Roosevelt's sons in the 1950s, the painting changed hands several times, before landing in 2011 in the collection of Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

The Conservative leader started painting late, when he was 40 years old.

Whoever liked to flee political storms and the grayness of London had discovered the light of the ocher city of Marrakech in the Thirties, at the time of the French protectorate, and made a total of six trips there in 23 years.

A period press photograph shows Roosevelt and Churchill together admiring from the Taylor Villa the sunset over the panorama that will inspire the painting.

Other works up for auction

At the same sale, two other paintings by Churchill took off the auction: a landscape of Marrakech sold for 1.55 million pounds (1.8 million euros), while it was estimated between 300,000 and 500,000 pounds, and a view of St. Paul's Cathedral in London estimated at between £ 200,000 and £ 300,000, sold for £ 880,000 (€ 1.2 million).

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