America's National Churchill Museum at Westminster College opened a new exhibit on Friday that paints a picture of Winston Churchill through his artwork.
The exhibit is "Winston Churchill: Passion for Painting." It showcases several paintings that Churchill painted throughout his life, with three of them being new additions to the museum.
One of the paintings was acquired by the museum, while the other two are on loan.
Timothy Riley, Sandra L. and Monroe E. Trout Director and chief curator, said the painting "Firth of Forth" was gifted to the museum. It was previously on long-term loan at the museum.
Riley said Churchill was an "extraordinary amateur painter." He never had any professional experience or training.
"Firth of Forth" was painted in 1925. It depicts World War I battleships coming into port as the sun sets near the River Forth in Scotland.
This painting is one of the few Churchill did that depicts the military.
Another painting new to the museum is "Leaning Palm, Jamaica." This is one of the paintings on loan to the museum. Riley said the collector who owns the painting wanted to make sure the public could see it.
Churchill painted this painting while he was serving as Prime Minister the second time, Riley said. It depicts a palm tree in Jamaica.
Riley said Churchill loved the challenge of painting water.
"He loved the challenge of trying to capture waves and movement on water. It's in many ways much harder to do that than paint a traditional landscape," he said.
The final new painting on loan to the museum is "A View of Miami at Sunset." Riley described this painting as a detective story.
Since the 1960's, this painting was titled "Distant View of Venice" by collectors and historians. It was believed to depict the landscape of Venice, although that was proven to be incorrect.
"This is a very American skyline," he said.
This painting was completed in 1946, only weeks before Churchill traveled to Fulton to deliver his "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster.
"As he's imagining, depicting and capturing the sunset over Miami, he is imaging an iron curtain descending across Europe," Riley said.
There is a photograph on display that Riley took recently that shows the exact location Churchill painted "A View of Miami at Sunset."
The location where it was painted is across the road from where Churchill wrote a letter to the college on Valentine's Day in 1946.
Riley said the Churchill paintings at the museum were all kept in very good condition. Churchill's children and grandchildren picked paintings of his to receive as their inheritance.
The exhibit now contains seven canvases from Churchill.
Riley said he thinks Churchill would be surprised that his paintings are on display in a museum. He added that he might be "secretly pleased, as he had a passion for the subject matter."
The "Winston Churchill: Passion for Painting" exhibit is open for public viewing. The exhibit is free with paid admission to the museum.
To learn more about the National Churchill Museum, visit nationalchurchillmuseum.org.
Anakin Bush/Fulton Sun The painting "Leaning Palm, Jamaica" on display at America's National Churchill Museum. The museum now has a total of seven paintings from Churchill on display.