Sir Winston Churchill His Life and His Paintings

by David Coombs

In 1915, Churchill was forced to resign from the wartime British government. He was 40 years old and thought his political career was finished. He became deeply depressed, but was rescued during a family holiday by his discovery of the 'muse of painting'. Churchill's fascination with painting continued until his last years, and for the first time, this book tells the story of his life through his own pictures.

David Coombs has been professionally linked with the visual arts since 1958. Upon the death of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965, Coombs saw the need for an illustrated catalogue of Churchill's pictures. He published this in 1967. In 1998, he curated the largest ever exhibition of Churchill's paintings at Sotheby's in London, which inspired this book. Minnie Churchill is the Director of Churchill Heritage Ltd, which owns the copyright to all the paintings. She is a travel writer, mother of four, and lives in Dorset.