More than 80 years after former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill drew his painting "The Koutoubia Mosque," the current owner of the painting, the famous American actress Angelina Jolie, announced that it will be auctioned in London.

The "Jolie Family Collection" will exhibit the painting at an auction at Christie's Auctions for Modern British Art in London on March 1, 2021, at a price ranging between $ 2 million and $ 3.5 million, thus setting a record for the painting at auction date.

American actress Angelina Jolie announced that the painting "The Koutoubia Mosque Tower" will be auctioned in London (Reuters)

Political and artistic history

The "Koutoubia Mosque Tower" is part of the political and artistic history of Hollywood. Churchill painted it in 1943 and presented it as a gift to US President Franklin Roosevelt.

After the two leaders Roosevelt and Churchill attended a conference in Casablanca in January 1943, where they were laying out their strategy to defeat Germany in World War II, they visited Marrakesh, where Churchill was able to show the charm of the city to the American president.

The British Telegraph newspaper reported that Roosevelt wanted to return immediately after the conference to the United States, except that Churchill insisted that they go to Marrakech first, and told him, "You cannot come to North Africa without going to Marrakech, and watching the sunset on the mountains The atlas ".

The painting depicts the details of the Koutoubia Mosque and its surroundings in Marrakesh at sunset, and merges with it in the background the Atlas Mountains with its picturesque landscape, which is the same moment that the two leaders shared while in the Moroccan city.

After Roosevelt's death in 1945, his son decided to sell the painting, and it moved between a number of owners, until the American actor Brad Pitt bought it in 2011 and gave it to Jolie, before the couple separated in 2016 after two years of marriage, and their divorce is still ongoing.

The best Churchill paintings

The American CNN website stated that Churchill, who was known for his artistic creativity, had painted several paintings in Morocco before the start of the war, but the "Koutoubia Mosque Tower" is the only known work he completed between 1939 and 1945.

Nick Orchard, head of modern British art at Christie's Auctions, said in a statement that the painting "is the only work that Churchill did in the days of war, and it may have driven him to that progress made by the war allies, while he was in the country which he considered one of the most beautiful Visited her. "

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (right) and US President Roosevelt (networking sites)

Orchard described the "Koutoubia Mosque Tower" as "the best painting by Winston Churchill due to the importance of the subject to him, and the fact that it reflects the depth and importance of the friendship between the two leaders."

"The painting was donated to President Roosevelt's son, and he in turn sold it to a filmmaker in the 1960s," antiques dealer Bill Rao, who previously owned the painting, told CNN.

"After that, the painting ended up in New Orleans, USA, where it was kept in a local family treasury for more than 50 years before it was inherited by one of the family members and communicated with the famous antiques exhibition," M.

S.

MS Rau.

It is expected that the demand for the painting is great, due to the fame of its owner Julie, as well as the value of its painter Churchill, as he is one of the most important leaders in history, and in addition to his political victories, he was one of the best British artists and writers, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.