Churchill's Hobby

And Hitler's obsession
One of the most pleasantly surprising things I learned about Churchill was that he spent time painting watercolors. He was modest about it, though. And didn't let it influence his politics. I think it was something he did to appreciate nature and beauty, especially after the expensive purchase of his Chartwell House home, whose grounds he often used for painting.

Contrast this with Hitler, a surprisingly competent artist, whose hubris got the better of him, and he decided to experiment with off-the-canvass creation and reconstruct the whole world according to his maligned vision. This, at least, is Eric Michaud's thesis in The Cult of Art in Nazi Germany about what was behind Hitler's grand project.

I bring this up because of my recent posts on auctions and exorbitant prices of useless and beyond mediocre works by the likes of ---- Damien Hirst et al.

Churchill's work is no masterpiece, but it comes with the history and wisdom of the man who said:

The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is a policy of first importance to a public man.

The Marrakech painting is being put to auction this December 13 at London's Sothesby's. It was a gift from Churchill to President Harry Truman in 1951. It is likely to fetch $1.03 million.

A fair price for a worthy historical record.

Marrakech, about 1948. By Winston Churchill

Yes, and paintings attributed to Hitler do go up for auction. The good news is that they don't bring nearly as much as Churchill's.

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