FOREWORD
Churchill was invariably shy about exhibiting his paintings under his own name, preferring to use instead
what his friend President Roosevelt once described in a letter to the Prime Minister as a “nom de palette.”
Churchill insisted on using one in 1947 after he had been persuaded to submit two paintings to the Royal
Academy's annual summer exhibition in London. Both were accepted for hanging, and only then was the
true identity of their artist revealed. One of these, “Winter Sunshine, Chartwell,” I have never forgotten
seeing there as a 10-year-old boy.
A decade later, it required the personal intervention of President Eisenhower before Churchill would agree
to an exhibition of his paintings being sent on tour to the United States and Canada – and then onwards, at
the behest of Prime Minister Menzies, to Australia and New Zealand. Its culmination was an exhibition at
the Royal Academy in London – which again I was lucky enough to see in 1959.
For any artist, a carefully selected exhibition is necessary in order to appreciate the extent and variety of his
work. Which is why I welcome this large exhibition of Churchill's paintings in Atlanta and heartily
congratulate all those whose unstinting efforts, interest and support have made it possible.
I hope all those so importantly involved will allow me to mention in particular two individuals: Churchill's
great-grandson, the committed and determined Duncan Sandys, and the exhilaratingly original minded art
historian J. English Cook.
In itself this exhibition is an exciting prospect. Its theme, The Art of Diplomacy, is an idea whose time has
come in its aim of relating “Churchill's strategic decision-making” directly to “his evolving practice as an
artist.” I don't mind admitting that I was thrilled by the concept because, at last, it brings serious
consideration to the true importance of Churchill's paintings – too often misinterpreted perhaps as little
more than unusually attractive and captivating personal remembrances of a very great man. This has never
been my view, certainly not since I was privileged to catalogue them all, soon after Churchill's death in 1965.
David Coombs
Author, Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings
Milford, Surrey, UK
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