Painted from an unusually high vantage, “Riviera Coast Scene” vividly conveys the formidable distance and breadth of the scene from the perch where he set his easel. Interestingly, Paul Rafferty did not include this painting in his book Winston Churchill: Painting on the French Riviera, believing it could likely be a scene from the Italian Lake District, where Churchill also painted in the same time period.

Paintings by Churchill can function as a glimpse into his extensive travels and his colorful life. Churchill most likely painted “Riviera Coast Scene” during a holiday at Chateau de l’Horizon, home of Maxine Elliot, a friend of his mother. Elliot, originally from Rockland, Maine, was a successful actress and socialite.

Within this painting, we see the influence of the Impressionists who utilized unusual viewpoints, modeled after Japanese woodblock prints, but also evidence of their attempts to push the boundaries of the landscape genre.

Literature:
D. Coombs and M. Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings, Lyme Regis, 2011, p. 137, no. C 295, fig. 274

In 1945, with the war ended and Churchill having suffered a surprising defeat in the general election, he accepted an invitation from Field Marshall Sir Harold Alexander to join him at his Italian villa on the shore of Lake Como. Churchill enjoyed his host's generous hospitality and focused his attention and energy on capturing the region on canvas. He produced fifteen paintings, which embody how painting absorbed his attention and offered an elixir that helped him recharge. This iconic painting was featured in a January 1946 article in LIFE, and has been selected as a color illustration in multiple editions of Churchill’s book, Paintings as a Pastime.

Literature:
W. Churchill, Painting as a Pastime, Strand Magazine, January 1922, Part 2, illustrated
D. Coombs and M. Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings, Lyme Regis, 2011, p. 188, no. C 413, fig. 380.
The Paintings of Winston Churchill, LIFE Magazine, January 7, 1946
Painting as a Pastime, Sir Winston Churchill, published in the US, 1950, later published in 2002

Located on the French Riviera between Nice and Monte Carlo, the Bay of Eze is renowned for its stunning location and spectacular views. As you can see on pages 80-81 of Rafferty's book, this painting skillfully captures the dizzying heights, set just west of Lou Sueil, the home of Jacques and Consuelo Balsan, close friends of Winston and Clementine.

The painting manipulates perspective and depth, a nod to the dramatic shifts of artists including Monet and Cézanne, who challenged traditional vantage points of landscapes. The portrait (i.e. vertical) orientation of the canvas combined with the trees, and the rhyming coastline channels the viewer’s gaze. The perceived tilting of the water's plane imbues the painting with dynamic tension.

Still lifes like Oranges and Lemons (C 455) give us an insight to the rich and colorful life of Churchill, just as his landscapes and seascapes do. Churchill painted Oranges and Lemons at La Pausa. Churchill would often frequent La Pausa as the guest of his literary agent, Emery Reves and his wife, Wendy. Reves purchased the home from Coco Chanel. While other members of the Churchill family did not share his enthusiasm, Churchill and his daughter Sarah loved the place, which Churchill affectionately called “LaPausaland”.

To avoid painting outside on a chilly January morning, Wendy Reves arranged the fruit for Churchill to paint. Surrounded by the Reves’s superb collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, including a number of paintings by Paul Cézanne, Oranges and Lemons illuminates Churchill’s relationships and the influence of Cézanne, who he admired. The painting, like Churchill, has lived a colorful life, exhibited at both the 1959 Royal Academy of Art exhibition of his paintings and the 1965 New York World’s Fair.

Literature:
M. Soames, Winston Churchill: His Life as a Painter, London, 1990, p. 205, no. 60 (illustrated)
D. Coombs and M. Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings, Lyme Regis, 2011, p. 233, no. C 455, fig. 493
P. Rafferty, Winston Churchill: Painting on the French Riviera, London, 2020, p. 102 (illustrated)

Uniquely among Winston Churchill’s known work, “Coastal Town on the Riviera” is in fact a double painting with the landscape on one side and an oil sketch on the other. The portrait sketch bears some resemblance to Viscountess Castlerosse who was a frequent guest in the same Rivera estates where Churchill visited. Churchill painted her in C 517 and C 518 and gives us a larger picture of the people who inhabited his world.

Of his approximately 550 works, the largest portion (about 150) were of the South of France, where Churchill could indulge in both the array of colors to apply to his canvas and in gambling, given the proximity of Monte Carlo.

Literature:
D. Coombs and M. Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings, Lyme Regis, 2011, p. 28, no. C 111, fig. 32
P. Rafferty, Winston Churchill: Painting on the French Riviera, London, 2020, p. 200, illustrated