Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00He was a giant of politics and war.
00:09The inspirational leader through Britain's darkest hours.
00:14We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
00:19we shall fight in the fields and in the streets.
00:23Soldier, statesman, builder of walls,
00:27smoker of endless cigars, but above all,
00:30history's insatiable communicator
00:33who poured out countless books, articles and speeches.
00:38But there's another Churchill, the private Churchill,
00:41the Churchill of silences,
00:43and that's not the Churchill of the Grand House of Chartwell,
00:46that's the Churchill of a much humbler little place
00:48in the grounds just below the house,
00:51the painting studio, where he painted and fell at last silent.
00:57For almost 50 years, painting was Churchill's private passion.
01:03He was a man besotted, as I am,
01:07by challenges of colour, composition and creativity.
01:13When he was painting,
01:15he was completely engrossed in what he was doing.
01:18He found this thing, this pastime,
01:21that sort of really electrified him.
01:25There are two obvious questions.
01:28First, why did Churchill paint quite so much?
01:32He left us more canvases
01:33than many full-time professional artists.
01:36And second, was he any good?
01:39This is the story of that other hidden Churchill
01:42and the under-examined role
01:44that painting played in his extraordinary life.
01:46If you want to understand Winston Churchill,
02:04Britain's greatest prime minister,
02:06then his family home in Kent
02:08is a good place to start.
02:10Chartwell was his refuge from public life
02:17and nowhere was more private
02:20than his painting studio in the garden.
02:29This is a building built completely of windows.
02:34There's the real windows all around us,
02:36flooding us with light and beautiful views,
02:38but there are also scores,
02:41if not hundreds, of oil paintings,
02:43pictures all over them,
02:44each one a window
02:45into an aspect of Churchill's personality.
02:49If you want to inhale the essence of Churchill,
02:53this is the place to do it,
02:54not a library or a grand public building.
02:56This is Churchill confronting himself.
02:59And we are surrounded by the paraphernalia
03:02of the private Churchill,
03:03with his cigars, his whiskey,
03:05his painting coat,
03:06still stained with the oil paint
03:09and the turpentine
03:10he was rubbing off from the brushes.
03:12And on the easel here
03:14is a painting of the goldfish pond,
03:17one of his favourite subjects.
03:18He signed it,
03:19but it's not really finished,
03:20or if it's finished,
03:21it's remarkably loose.
03:22David Hockney always say,
03:24painting's an old man's game.
03:26And there's Churchill, the old man,
03:28painting more loosely
03:29than he ever did before.
03:30The Chartwell studio is more or less
03:35as Churchill left it at the time of his death.
03:38And these paintings are just a fraction
03:40of his prodigious output as an artist.
03:44He only took up painting in middle age,
03:46but he produced more than 500 canvases
03:49during the last 50 years of his life.
03:52And pictures like these,
03:53whatever their quality as art,
03:55give an unexpected glimpse into the mind
03:57and at times even the soul
03:59of this complex and conflicted character.
04:05There are two kinds of paintings
04:08looking around me in this room.
04:10Really, there are the exuberant,
04:12colourful, happiness-filled,
04:15dancing paintings of places.
04:17Lots and lots of colour,
04:19lots of water,
04:20lots of light dancing around.
04:21This is a very, very boisterous,
04:23fundamentally optimistic man
04:25who had a thirst for life,
04:27had a thirst for colour.
04:28But there are also very dark paintings
04:31and they tend to be the portraits.
04:33You get bright landscapes,
04:35dark people.
04:36And none of the portraits
04:37is quite as dark
04:39as the one that hangs over the entire room,
04:41staring down at us.
04:42And it's a small,
04:43very, very early painting
04:45of Churchill by Churchill.
04:51Painted in late 1915
04:56when Churchill was 40 years old,
04:58his self-portrait reveals
04:59a man coming to terms
05:01with harrowing experiences
05:03in the First World War.
05:06This is a thin, haggard,
05:09exhausted man,
05:10surrounded by darkness,
05:12staring out at us.
05:13Dark night of the soul.
05:15And this gives us, I think,
05:16a big clue as to why Churchill
05:18did any of this at all,
05:19why he painted.
05:20There it is.
05:22He'd only been painting
05:23for a few months
05:24when he made this picture.
05:25It was a creative response
05:27to a crisis
05:28in his political fortunes.
05:31A few months earlier,
05:33he'd been First Lord of the Admiralty,
05:35a government minister
05:36with a central role
05:37in Britain's conduct
05:38of the First World War.
05:40In the spring of 1915,
05:42he championed the plan
05:43to break the deadlock
05:44of the trenches
05:45by opening a second front
05:47against Turkey to the east.
05:50The so-called Dardanelles campaign
05:52ended in complete disaster.
05:55More than 200,000 allied troops
05:58lost their lives
05:59and Churchill rightly
06:01took some of the blame.
06:02He resigned from the government
06:04and enlisted to fight
06:05on the Western Front.
06:07It was in the brief interlude
06:09before visiting the hell
06:11of Flanders
06:12that Churchill,
06:14encouraged by his family
06:15and friends,
06:16began painting
06:17for the first time
06:18since his childhood.
06:22This was one of his first attempts,
06:24a peaceful, sunlit image
06:26for a man who was close to despair,
06:28but look at those trees,
06:30a premonition perhaps
06:31of shell bursts.
06:33When he travelled to France
06:35in November 1915,
06:36Churchill's paint box came too.
06:39Here's a really interesting
06:41little picture
06:42which is not at all
06:43what it seems.
06:44It appears to be
06:45a sunny scene.
06:46There's a light blue sky,
06:48clouds scudding across it,
06:50a rosy little village
06:51lit by the sunlight,
06:52very pretty,
06:53and some greenery
06:54in the foreground.
06:55Then you look closer.
06:56Those are not badly painted clouds.
06:59Those are shell bursts.
07:01That is not
07:01an inadequately painted church spire.
07:04That is a shattered church spire.
07:06And all over the village
07:07there are ugly black holes
07:08made by shell fire.
07:11This was painted
07:11by Winston Churchill
07:13in 1916,
07:14right on the front line
07:15in a little Belgian village
07:17the British army
07:17called Plug Street.
07:19So he was sitting there,
07:20presumably in his helmet,
07:21at his easel,
07:22with shell fire
07:22bursting around him.
07:24And he wasn't
07:24in a sunny mood at all.
07:26According to his fellow officers,
07:27he was in a foul mood.
07:29So this is a painting
07:30by a man starting to paint.
07:31But the strangest thing
07:32about this is this,
07:34that just 10 miles away
07:35there's another group
07:36of soldiers,
07:36the Bavarians,
07:37and there's another loner,
07:39also not having a good war,
07:41also trying to draw
07:42and paint
07:43to keep himself sane.
07:44But in his case,
07:46less successfully so,
07:47because his name
07:48was Adolf Hitler.
07:49Churchill's family
08:00were convinced
08:01that this new hobby
08:02helped him to cope
08:03with the pressures
08:03of high office
08:04and front line fighting.
08:06And that makes sense to me.
08:09I've drawn and painted
08:10in a cheerfully incompetent way
08:12all of my life.
08:14But the healing effects
08:15of drenching yourself
08:17in the difficult,
08:17intricate task
08:19of making marks
08:20on canvas and paper
08:22have become
08:22especially apparent to me
08:24since I had a major stroke
08:25little more than two years ago.
08:28Survey Churchill's life
08:29and lurking in the shadows
08:31alongside the man's
08:32ardour and courage,
08:34there's an often
08:35haunting anxiety
08:36or the spectre of depression,
08:38what he called
08:39his black dog.
08:41I can smell it here
08:42in his beloved home
08:44at Chartwell.
08:44The house feels
08:48a little cold,
08:50a little quiet.
08:51It's February,
08:52it's quite dark,
08:53it's wet outside,
08:54so maybe not surprisingly.
08:56But there isn't
08:57a great sense of triumph
08:58or warmth about this house.
09:00It's not the house,
09:01I don't think,
09:02of a man who felt
09:03that he was triumphal
09:04and lion-like,
09:06however much he may have
09:07appeared to be so
09:07from the outside.
09:08Humans are the animal
09:12which makes.
09:14The wielding of power
09:15is an abstract
09:16and very strange
09:17kind of making.
09:18The politician,
09:19particularly in wartime,
09:21makes decisions.
09:22He scrawls his name
09:23and creates mayhem.
09:25It's interesting
09:26that at moments of stress
09:27throughout his life,
09:28Churchill escaped
09:29to another kind of making,
09:31one that's so much simpler
09:32and in a way
09:34more innocent.
09:36Painting, for him,
09:37was often the way
09:38to fling open the shutters
09:39and let the sunshine back in.
09:43The painting to my grandfather
09:44was a lifesaver.
09:46I really believe this.
09:48I think it got him through
09:50some very dark moments
09:52and the thing about painting
09:55and anything else
09:56sort of creative
09:57is that you can't think
09:59about anything else
10:00while you're doing it.
10:01I mean, this was something
10:02that absolutely would take him
10:04into another world.
10:05He loved it.
10:07I mean, he so enjoyed it.
10:08It wasn't just an escape.
10:09It was also a huge pleasure.
10:12Churchill's hogshair paintbrush
10:14had helped him through
10:15the trials of war
10:17and it stayed very close to hand
10:19throughout the 1920s.
10:21The energy he threw into
10:23relaunching his political career
10:25was matched by the thrill
10:26of his new passion for art.
10:29He called these pictures
10:31daubs, but that self-deprecation
10:33hid a growing fascination
10:35with the technical challenges
10:37of painting.
10:41Churchill characteristically
10:43downplayed the seriousness
10:45of his painting.
10:47He talked about it
10:47as a friend who makes
10:49few undue demands.
10:51But I think we should look instead
10:53at how he behaved
10:54and that tells a different story
10:55because he cultivated friendships
10:57with some of the most remarkable
10:59and important painters
11:01of his age.
11:02He hung around their studios
11:04and learned their techniques
11:06and had them to tea
11:07and talk to them relentlessly.
11:09And if you are interested
11:10in painting as I am
11:12and you have friends
11:13who are proper painters
11:14as I do
11:14and you talk to them
11:15it is a revelation.
11:17You are introduced
11:18into a golden,
11:19intense,
11:20passionate world
11:21which everybody there
11:22takes completely seriously.
11:25And I think all his life
11:26Churchill took painting
11:27completely seriously
11:28and his friendships
11:29above all show that.
11:34Churchill's oddly minimalist painting
11:36Tea in the Dining Room
11:37at Chartwell
11:38from 1927
11:39provides a snapshot
11:41of his fashionable,
11:42aristocratic,
11:43creative social circle
11:45at the time.
11:46There's the roaring
11:4720s beauty
11:48Diana Mitford,
11:49Churchill's favourite scientist
11:51F.A. Lindemann,
11:53his wife Clementine
11:54and beside Churchill
11:56the artist
11:57Walter Sickert.
12:00Now I don't suppose
12:00anybody hung around
12:02with anybody else
12:03during the 1920s and 30s
12:04but Churchill hung around
12:06a lot with painters
12:07and very substantial painters too.
12:09Very substantial painters.
12:11He loved their company
12:12and he just felt at ease
12:14with them
12:15because they were,
12:16they understood
12:17what he was trying to do
12:17which was a serious thing.
12:19Walter Sickert
12:22was one of several artists
12:24Churchill became friendly with
12:25during the 1920s.
12:28Born in Germany
12:29Sickert moved to England
12:30as a child.
12:31He was in his 50s
12:32when he first met Churchill
12:34and a hugely influential figure
12:36in British painting.
12:39As a member
12:40of the Camden Town
12:41School of Painters
12:42he was a champion
12:43he was a champion
12:43of aggressive
12:44social realism.
12:47So it sounded
12:48an unlikely friendship.
12:50The well-connected
12:51aristocratic politician
12:52and the controversial artist
12:55fascinated by the grubbier
12:57corners of urban life.
12:59But the two men clicked
13:01and Sickert
13:02taught Churchill
13:03several new techniques
13:04to improve his painting
13:05including the use
13:07of a slide projector
13:08or magic lantern
13:10to help him set out
13:11a composition
13:12on the canvas.
13:15So all I'm doing here
13:17is I'm using
13:17the projected image
13:18the photograph
13:19with the magic lantern
13:20projected onto the canvas
13:22and I'm using that
13:23to trace the outline
13:24of the view
13:25giving me a shortcut
13:26to the final painting
13:28I'll then fill it all in.
13:29It's a technique
13:30that the innovative
13:31English painter
13:32Walter Sickert
13:33taught Churchill.
13:35Now you may regard
13:36it simply as cheating
13:37and I can completely
13:38understand why.
13:39However
13:40this is a form
13:41of shortcut
13:41which as David Hockney
13:43has reminded us recently
13:44was used by artists
13:46throughout history
13:47a simple lens
13:48projecting an image
13:49onto a canvas
13:50to speed things up.
13:52We know that Vermeer
13:53used it
13:53Caravaggio
13:54certainly used it
13:55so did many other
13:56great artists
13:57and so did Churchill.
13:58Why?
13:59Above all
14:00because it allowed him
14:01to cut to the chase
14:02and the part of oil painting
14:03which he particularly adored
14:05which is the great globs
14:06of gooey paint
14:08the colour
14:08the impasto
14:09the stench
14:10the smacking it on
14:11using this
14:12allowed him
14:13to get to the fun part
14:14more quickly.
14:15that's about as much
14:27as I can do with that
14:27it's very interesting
14:28you can't
14:28it's not that good
14:29you know
14:29because you've got
14:30your own shadow
14:31and you can't see
14:32the detail very clearly
14:33but that's
14:33that gives the impression
14:35that would then become
14:36a painting quite quickly
14:37I think.
14:38Churchill was eager
14:40to learn from
14:40every leading artist
14:42he could get his hands on
14:43cramming in the basics
14:45of an art school education
14:46between cabinet meetings
14:48or foreign visits
14:49Sir Paul Lavery
14:53Paul Mays
14:54William Orpen
14:55and the greatest of them all
14:57Sir William Nicholson
14:58were the cream
14:59of England's art establishment
15:01pioneers of a distinctive
15:03new style of painting
15:05and they shared their secrets
15:07with this unlikely student
15:09in the early 20th century
15:13there were a group
15:14of specifically
15:14English painters
15:16who emphasised
15:17the skills of draftsmanship
15:18and the techniques
15:19of brush
15:20over quite sophisticated
15:21subtle effects
15:23on glass
15:23and pewter
15:24and flowers
15:25and their paintings
15:26tend to be
15:26very quiet
15:27in their effect
15:28introspective
15:29completely different
15:31from the rather
15:31exhibitionist
15:32and much more colourful
15:34and muscular paintings
15:35in France
15:35at the same time
15:36and these guys
15:37were friends
15:39of Churchill
15:40and it's very interesting
15:41that it is the
15:42subtle
15:42sophisticated
15:43quiet
15:44introspective
15:45almost depressive
15:46skills of the painterly
15:47English painters
15:48that first kick him off
15:49as a painter himself
15:50he surrounded himself
15:52with some of the
15:53really most superb
15:54painters that Britain
15:55produced at that period
15:56I mean Orpen
15:57and people like that
15:59he measured himself
16:00against the best
16:01I think measuring them
16:02is not necessarily
16:03the right word
16:04he felt in their company
16:06great happiness
16:07because they respected him
16:09as an artist
16:10and that was the
16:11best thing that happened
16:12to him
16:13I believe
16:13the most important
16:19to Churchill
16:19because they
16:21became intimate friends
16:23I think that's a fair point
16:24is William Nicholson
16:25he stayed at
16:26Childwell
16:27for a considerable time
16:28and Churchill
16:29so respected him
16:30and they of course
16:31painted together
16:32they did
16:33and Nicholson
16:34one of the loosest
16:35but most brilliant
16:37fluid painters
16:38of that period
16:38by far
16:39yes
16:40somebody who is
16:40coming back
16:41into his own
16:41at the moment
16:42yes thank God
16:42yes
16:43yeah
16:43it's interesting
16:44there are some
16:45soul-lifes
16:45by Churchill
16:46that have that
16:48direct influence
16:49of Nicholson
16:50their greyness
16:50and their silverness
16:51and so on
16:51very beautiful
16:52it was Nicholson's
16:54approach to painting
16:54that was the most
16:55important thing
16:56a very serious
16:57yet light-hearted
16:59aspect
16:59the seriousness
17:02with which
17:03Churchill studied
17:04the craft of painting
17:05was a constant
17:07throughout his life
17:08a creative
17:09intensity
17:10that only
17:11close friends
17:12and family
17:13ever got to see
17:14if they were lucky
17:15Celia
17:16you were with your grandfather
17:17when he was painting
17:18what was going on
17:19when he was painting
17:20he was completely
17:21preoccupied
17:22and he'd generally
17:23if he was outside
17:24he'd have his big hat on
17:25and he would be
17:27totally
17:28engrossed
17:29in what he was doing
17:30and he didn't really
17:32welcome anyone
17:33much around
17:34so if you were there
17:35you kept your distance
17:36the studio was
17:38pretty much
17:39out of bounds
17:39in the same way
17:41that my grandfather's
17:42study was
17:44and we were not
17:45allowed in there
17:46because those were
17:47the places
17:48where he worked
17:50and he hated
17:51being disturbed
17:53I mean
17:54right through his life
17:55there are famous
17:56stories of him
17:57bellowing at people
17:59who disturbed him
18:01while he was working
18:02and that included
18:04his loved
18:06but infuriating
18:07grandchildren
18:08oil painting
18:14unlike say watercolors
18:15oil painting
18:17requires complete
18:18concentration
18:19physical
18:19because it's a physical
18:21act
18:21Churchill was a very
18:22physical man
18:23he played golf
18:25he hunted
18:25he rode horses
18:27and this was what
18:28oil painting gave him
18:29it allowed him
18:30to be distracted
18:32it was a total
18:33absorbing pursuit
18:34his whole self
18:35into it
18:36mind
18:36absolutely
18:37you've got it
18:37exactly
18:39he painted whenever
18:47and wherever
18:48he could
18:49at home
18:50in his studio
18:51or best of all
18:53out in the open
18:54under a warming sun
18:56in 1920
18:57Churchill made
18:58the first of many
18:59painting trips
19:00to the south of France
19:02and discovered
19:03a new way
19:04of looking at the world
19:05for generations
19:07the British upper classes
19:09have had to deal
19:10with the almost
19:11unimaginable horror
19:12of the British winter
19:14and they've dealt
19:15with it
19:15by and large
19:16by moving south
19:17from Edwardian times
19:20right the way through
19:20to the new Elizabethans
19:22of the 1950s
19:23in their hundreds
19:24and thousands
19:25they flocked
19:26down here
19:27to the south of France
19:28for its dappled sunlight
19:29in its azure waters
19:30like so many
19:31ungainly
19:33dark
19:33migratory birds
19:35and in that at least
19:36Winston Churchill
19:37was absolutely
19:39a man of his time
19:40and his class
19:41the lush
19:46and dramatic
19:47landscapes
19:48of the Mediterranean
19:49were a world
19:50way for the
19:51calmer
19:51gentler
19:52of scenes at home
19:53they demanded
19:54a new palette
19:55of colours
19:56and they inspired
19:57a new direction
19:58in Churchill's
19:59approach to his craft
20:00his first influences
20:02had been the
20:03understated
20:04English artists
20:05but now
20:06Churchill took inspiration
20:07from the European
20:08Impressionists
20:09and Post-Impressionists
20:11Manet and Monet
20:13Cezanne and Matisse
20:15according to Churchill
20:17they had brought
20:18to art
20:18a new draft
20:19of joie de vivre
20:21the beauty of their work
20:22is instinct with gaiety
20:24and floats in the sparkling air
20:27this is one of his early efforts
20:32to emulate their success
20:34a view of Mimisan
20:35in southwest France
20:36which reminds me slightly
20:37of an early Paul Dufy
20:39the landscapes
20:44the landscapes were spectacular
20:45but the romance
20:46of the impoverished artist
20:48never much appealed
20:49to Winston Churchill
20:50when he painted abroad
20:52he always made sure
20:54the digs
20:54were up to scratch
20:55and this was one
21:01of his favourites
21:02the Villa La Pausa
21:04once the home
21:06of Coco Chanel
21:07Churchill came
21:10from the well-off
21:10aristocracy
21:11after all
21:12he was born
21:13in Blenheim Palace
21:14but he never had
21:15very much ready cash
21:16of his own
21:17and he always dreamed
21:17of being a millionaire
21:18well for decades
21:20he could come down
21:21to the south of France
21:22and mingle
21:23with those
21:24who really were
21:25he'd leave behind
21:26the problems
21:26of freezing London
21:27which may feel familiar
21:29he was dealing with
21:30Ireland
21:30Russia
21:31Iraq
21:33and he'd throw it
21:34all to one side
21:34and he'd come down here
21:36and he'd loiter about
21:37with the likes of
21:37Coco Chanel
21:39Aristotle Anassas
21:40the Duke and Duchess
21:42of Windsor
21:42Noel Coward
21:43these days
21:45we tend to be
21:45quite critical
21:46of politicians
21:46who after they've
21:47left office
21:48hang around
21:49with the rich
21:49and famous
21:50well for decades
21:52Churchill did exactly
21:53that in the south
21:54of France
21:54eat your heart out
21:56Tony Blair
21:57it's not hard
22:13to understand
22:14the appeal
22:14of the Med
22:15but for Churchill
22:16I think it went
22:17a little deeper
22:18than just the glitz
22:19and the luxury
22:20of places like this
22:21Churchill's imagination
22:24was of course
22:25first and foremost
22:27verbal
22:28the great thinker
22:29the great writer
22:30the great speaker
22:31but for an intensely
22:32verbal man
22:33he also had
22:34a strongly
22:34visual imagination
22:36why did he keep
22:38coming down
22:38to the south of France
22:39for the sun
22:40and his face
22:40yes of course
22:41for the glamorous
22:42friends
22:42up to a point
22:43but above all
22:45he came here
22:45I think
22:46for the extraordinary
22:47intense
22:48saturated colours
22:50which fed
22:51his imagination
22:52as nothing else could
22:53and if you want
22:54to see how that works
22:55you can turn to
22:56the only novel
22:57the young Churchill
22:59wrote
22:59it's intensely romantic
23:00quite interesting
23:01not very good
23:02and it's called
23:03Savrola
23:04he wrote it
23:08in his early 20s
23:09long before he began
23:10to paint
23:11but the novel
23:12is full of clues
23:13to a romantic
23:14sensibility
23:15which later expressed
23:16itself on canvas
23:17the hero of the novel
23:20a barely disguised
23:21version of Churchill
23:22himself
23:23is a man of action
23:24who fights a dictator
23:26who is blind to beauty
23:28at a key moment
23:31in the story
23:31he retreats to his study
23:33to look at Jupiter
23:34in the night sky
23:36at last he rose
23:41his mind still far away
23:42from earth
23:43another world
23:45a world more beautiful
23:46a world of boundless
23:48possibilities
23:49enthralled his imagination
23:51and then obviously
23:54he and the central female
23:56character in the story
23:57fall in love
23:58with her
24:00it was as if
24:01the rising sunbeam
24:02had struck the rainbow
24:04from the crystal prism
24:06or had flushed
24:07the snow peak
24:08with rose
24:09orange
24:10and violet
24:11this novel
24:22is a young man's
24:23fantasy
24:24florid
24:25and melodramatic
24:26but the romantic
24:28sensibility
24:29it reveals
24:29was part of
24:30Churchill's
24:31make-up
24:31to the end
24:32I think painting
24:34was one way
24:34of tapping into it
24:36especially
24:36when he immersed
24:38himself
24:38in the shimmering
24:39light of the
24:40Mediterranean
24:41Churchill adored
24:47the south of
24:48France
24:48it was his
24:49personal playground
24:50but the
24:51Cote d'Azur
24:52that Churchill
24:52loved
24:53has now
24:53mostly been
24:54destroyed
24:55too much
24:56appalling
24:57development
24:57too much
24:58money
24:58too many
24:58people
24:59there are
25:00only a few
25:00places
25:01like here
25:02on the
25:02Lou River
25:03which are
25:03more or less
25:04exactly
25:04as Churchill
25:05knew them
25:06just a few
25:09miles north
25:10of Cannes
25:11the Lou River
25:12offered Churchill
25:13a challenging
25:14juxtaposition
25:15of harsh
25:16textured cliff
25:17faces
25:18and still
25:19reflective
25:20water
25:20pictures like
25:23this spring
25:24from the same
25:25romantic imagination
25:26on display
25:26in Churchill's
25:28early novel
25:28but where his
25:29prose was
25:30overcooked
25:31and sentimental
25:32the painting
25:33is in my
25:34opinion
25:34deft
25:35and sophisticated
25:36taken to the
25:39Lou River
25:40to film
25:40I've decided
25:41to draw
25:42myself
25:42but a broader
25:43subject
25:44to be honest
25:45working here
25:46with pencils
25:47I find water
25:48almost impossible
25:49to draw
25:50so I've chosen
25:52a drawing subject
25:53which is technically
25:54quite difficult
25:55not because of
25:56the overall shape
25:57that's straightforward
25:58there's a cliff
25:59and there are trees
26:00coming down
26:00and the river
26:01bubbling through
26:02but because of
26:03the complexity
26:04and subtlety
26:04of the colour here
26:05it's still nearly winter
26:07there aren't many
26:08leaves on the trees
26:09everything is a kind
26:10of gungy brown
26:12or a slimy green
26:13and drawing out
26:14the colours
26:15and every time
26:15I look at it again
26:16I see more colours
26:17is a complicated
26:18business
26:19I haven't completely
26:21messed it up
26:21this time
26:22that's all I'll say
26:22it's not great
26:23but it's not a total
26:24mess up
26:24what's interesting
26:37is that this is
26:37a difficult place
26:38to paint
26:39I'm surrounded
26:40by running water
26:41dappled colours
26:42speckle flash
26:43he chose
26:44hard subjects
26:45he once said
26:47that painting
26:47was like
26:48taking a paintbox
26:49often a joyride
26:50to lift
26:51the blood
26:52and tears
26:53of the morning
26:53well if so
26:54all I can say
26:55is that Churchill's
26:56paintbox
26:56was a 4x4
26:57which he drove
26:58to the hardest
26:59places possible
27:00the most obscure
27:01the toughest subject
27:02I'm half happy
27:13which for me
27:15is quite a lot
27:16Churchill painted
27:22the Lu River
27:22several times
27:23he came here
27:24again
27:25and again
27:26I think
27:29this version
27:30is the best
27:31he gifted it
27:32to the Tate Gallery
27:33after a meeting
27:34with its director
27:35John Rothenstein
27:36in his studio
27:37at Chartwell
27:38surrounded by
27:41Churchill's paintings
27:42the two men
27:43discussed
27:44the importance
27:44of art
27:45and Churchill
27:49turned to
27:50Rothenstein
27:50and he said
27:51if it weren't
27:52for painting
27:53I couldn't live
27:55I couldn't bear
27:56the strain
27:57of things
27:57horse's mouth
27:59Churchill rarely
28:12spoke so directly
28:14about the emotional
28:15importance of his art
28:16he only wrote
28:18publicly about it
28:19once
28:19in an essay
28:20called
28:21Painting as a Pastime
28:22published shortly
28:23after that first
28:24expedition to France
28:26the essay celebrates
28:28the excitement
28:28and satisfaction
28:29of making art
28:30sensations that
28:32nourished him
28:33during a series
28:34of incredibly difficult
28:35government jobs
28:36in the 1920s
28:37he painted this calm
28:39he painted this calm interior
28:40in 1921
28:41the same year
28:42that he oversaw
28:43the partition of Ireland
28:44as colonial secretary
28:45a task that earned
28:47Churchill many enemies
28:48in his own party
28:49and this fiery seascape
28:52was composed
28:53when he was
28:54Chancellor of the Exchequer
28:55a post he held
28:56for five years
28:57during the upheavals
28:59of the general strike
29:00and economic depression
29:02when the Tories
29:04were voted out
29:04in 1929
29:05Churchill lost
29:07his job
29:07with enemies
29:08on all sides
29:09of the House of Commons
29:10he thought
29:11his career
29:12was over
29:13the 1920s
29:15had been all about
29:16excitement
29:16and colour
29:17and light
29:18but now
29:19Churchill's fortunes
29:20demanded
29:21a more sombre palette
29:23he was entering
29:24the decade
29:24that's been called
29:25his wilderness years
29:27this is the period
29:31when Churchill's
29:32production as a painter
29:33starts to really accelerate
29:35about half the paintings
29:36we have from him now
29:37come from this time
29:38which is very interesting
29:40if you look at what else
29:41is going on in his life
29:42in his political life
29:43he's made bad choices
29:44he's a bit of a political dinosaur
29:46virtually an outcast
29:48in his other life
29:49as a writer
29:50now I know
29:51none better
29:51that life as a hack journalist
29:53is very very exciting
29:55but extremely unchancy
29:57and febrile
29:57and things are going
29:58very badly for him
29:59in that regard
30:00contracts have been cancelled
30:01the money isn't coming in
30:02he's under huge pressure
30:04and how is he behaving
30:06in this house
30:07well signs of pressure
30:08all around
30:09the brandies and sodas
30:11are starting
30:11from 11.30 in the morning
30:13a little bit early
30:13even for me
30:14and by the evening
30:15he is knocking himself out
30:17with booze
30:17brandy and soda
30:18whiskey
30:19champagne
30:20day and night
30:21have almost ceased
30:23to exist for Churchill
30:24at this period
30:25he will get up
30:26in the middle of the night
30:26and dictate
30:27to some poor wretched secretary
30:29for three hours at a time
30:30he's wallowing around
30:31in his bath
30:32he's wandering around
30:33this house
30:33dressed either only
30:35in a silk kimono
30:36with a great big red dragon
30:38stitched on the back
30:39or with no clothes on at all
30:40he's showing lots of signs
30:42of manic
30:43pressured behaviour
30:44never a dull or idle moment
30:52Churchill once wrote
30:53the 55 year old outcast
30:56now flung his energies
30:58into Chartwell
30:59Winston rolled up his sleeves
31:01and he built cottages
31:02walls
31:03garden rockeries
31:04and even a swimming pool
31:06with his own bare hands
31:08described as restless
31:10and meditative
31:11by friend and politician
31:12Harold Nicholson
31:13Churchill also
31:15painted like a demon
31:16one of his favourite subjects
31:18a few he painted
31:19many times over the years
31:21the pond in the garden
31:22filled with goldfish
31:24I have very strong memories
31:28of the goldfish pond
31:29because it was a great
31:32sort of little ceremony
31:35he used to
31:37after lunch
31:38he used to walk down
31:40to the goldfish pond
31:42with maybe grandchildren
31:44with Rufus the poodle
31:47and he'd sit
31:48on the edge of the goldfish pond
31:50and he'd bang on the york stone
31:53with his stick
31:54and the goldfish
31:56would come rushing over
31:58and then he'd feed the mealies
32:00out of this big box
32:03he created that space
32:07there was no goldfish pond
32:09when he arrived at Chartwell
32:11that goldfish pond
32:12looked as he wished it to look
32:14when the family were gone
32:17Churchill would sit
32:19and sit
32:20and paint
32:21perhaps it was
32:28the technical challenge
32:29of representing light and shade
32:31water and foliage
32:32that fascinated him most
32:34or
32:35was there more to it
32:37than that
32:37so this is a very
32:43important place to Churchill
32:45this goldfish pond
32:47and at first sight
32:49it seems a bit melancholy
32:50it's dark
32:51and you wonder
32:52if there's some kind
32:53of connection
32:54between his fascination
32:56of this very very dark
32:57green water
32:58albeit with flashes
32:59of gold and goldfish in it
33:01and what's going on
33:02in his head at the time
33:03because it is the reverse
33:05of the kind of sunny
33:06sunlit
33:07easy
33:07landscapes
33:08he liked to paint
33:09in France
33:10for instance
33:10this painting of the pond
33:13was done in 1932
33:15when Churchill was
33:16increasingly frustrated
33:18by his marginal role
33:20in public life
33:21many say
33:23it's the best painting
33:25that Churchill ever did
33:26well it's technically
33:28accomplished
33:29and beautifully composed
33:30it's a mood piece
33:33which conveys something
33:34of the great man's melancholy
33:36what his daughter
33:38in later life
33:39would describe
33:39as a void in his heart
33:41which no achievement
33:43or honour
33:43could completely fulfil
33:45there is a black dog
33:50swimming in that water
33:52I'm not drawing water
33:54very well at the moment
33:55but I'm getting there
33:57I guess
33:58if black dog
34:07was the problem
34:08maybe colour
34:09was the cure
34:10the philosopher
34:15Isaiah Berlin
34:17once said of Churchill
34:18that he
34:19sees history
34:20and life
34:21as a great
34:22renaissance pageant
34:23the units
34:24out of which
34:25his world
34:26is constructed
34:26are simpler
34:27and larger than life
34:29painted in primary colours
34:31that might explain
34:38why he loved
34:38Marrakesh
34:39in Morocco
34:40so very much
34:42in late 1935
34:45Churchill made
34:46the first of many
34:47visits to paint
34:48in the North African city
34:49sun seeking
34:53rotten
34:54and disconsolate
34:55as he once
34:56described himself
34:57in a letter
34:57to his wife
34:58Marrakesh
34:59promised him
35:00desert adventure
35:01and a trip
35:02back in time
35:03in primary colours
35:05a place
35:05to absorb his mind
35:07and lift his spirits
35:08the capacity
35:13of art
35:14and its making
35:15to restore
35:16one's mental health
35:18is something
35:18that I
35:19am coming
35:20to understand
35:21and I'm sure
35:22Churchill did too
35:23I'm really interested
35:27in the idea
35:27of flow
35:28as the essence
35:29of happiness
35:30if you like
35:30and flow
35:31is
35:32we're told
35:33being engaged
35:34with full intensity
35:35in something
35:35doing it as much
35:36as you possibly can
35:36as hard as you can
35:37but something you find
35:39difficult
35:39and not easy
35:40but you can do
35:41so for me
35:42it's drawing
35:42when I'm doing it
35:44everything else
35:45just dissolves
35:46into mere colour
35:47and line
35:48and there is nothing
35:49except for colour
35:50and line
35:50in the world
35:51ultimately
35:52so that's what
35:52it does for me
35:53I'm sure it was
35:54the same for Churchill too
35:55I wouldn't say
36:01that art's kept me sane
36:02but I think
36:02certainly for me
36:03it's been a very
36:04very important
36:05release valve
36:06when things are going
36:07really badly
36:08there's been too much
36:09pressure in personal life
36:11or in professional life
36:12when I think
36:12I'm about to go pop
36:13then frankly
36:14going back to paints
36:15and easels
36:16and colours and shapes
36:17helps me hugely
36:18always has
36:19none of us are Churchill
36:23we don't quite know
36:24what was going on
36:25in his mind
36:25none of us ever will
36:27but my best guess
36:28is that it kept him sane
36:30because it kept him connected
36:31to the vibrant
36:32kind of flickering
36:33iridescent reality
36:35of being alive
36:36it's about looking out
36:38and thinking
36:38I am alive
36:39you're thinking about
36:40the shapes
36:40you're thinking about
36:41the colours
36:41and you are full of awe
36:43and amazement
36:44and his paintings
36:45are full of awe
36:46and amazement
36:46and joie de vivre
36:47and a sense of being
36:49really engaged
36:50in this extraordinary
36:50world around you
36:51and you know
36:53in a pressure
36:53difficult life
36:54where you're full of
36:55gloom
36:56and full of worry
36:57and full of angst
36:58you have these
36:58terrible depressions
36:59I think that is the kind
37:00of thing that can stop
37:01you blowing your brains
37:02out frankly
37:03painting helped
37:10Churchill find a path
37:12through his wilderness years
37:14which is just as well
37:16because of course
37:18history hadn't quite
37:20finished with him
37:21just yet
37:22I have nothing to offer
37:23but blood
37:24toil
37:26tears
37:27and sweat
37:28in the past
37:33he juggled
37:34politics and painting
37:35but when he became
37:36prime minister
37:37in May 1940
37:38at the age of 65
37:40Churchill's wartime duties
37:42were so intense
37:43that even his private
37:45release valve
37:46and solace
37:47had to be packed away
37:48for the duration
37:49there was just
37:53one occasion
37:54during six years
37:55of war
37:56when his brushes
37:56saw the light of day
37:58it was the only time
38:00in his life
38:01when his private
38:02passion for making art
38:04collided with his
38:05public role
38:06as a politician
38:07it's 1943
38:10the world war
38:11is on a pivot
38:12and for Britain
38:13everything depends
38:14on the intensity
38:15and the strength
38:17of the American alliance
38:18so what does
38:19Churchill do
38:20he drags
38:21President Roosevelt
38:22halfway across
38:23North Africa
38:23here
38:24to his beloved
38:25Marrakesh
38:27why
38:27because as he tells
38:28the American president
38:29I have to be with you
38:31when you first see
38:32the sun set
38:33on the Atlas Mountains
38:35this is Churchill's
38:37diplomacy
38:37at its most
38:38personal
38:39and intense
38:40and while he's here
38:41he does something
38:41he doesn't do
38:42at any other point
38:42during the war
38:43he paints a picture
38:44of the Katubia Mosque
38:45a lovely painting
38:46and he immediately
38:47gives it to Roosevelt
38:48this is not the ordinary
38:50kind of gift
38:51between leaders
38:52this is Churchill
38:53giving Roosevelt
38:54a tiny slice
38:55of his own soul
38:57ultimate soft power
38:59of course
39:00in those days
39:01the international art market
39:02didn't exist
39:03in quite the way
39:04it does today
39:04and so where is
39:05that lovely painting
39:06now?
39:06in the collection
39:07of Mr and Mrs Brad Pitt
39:10after the war
39:21had been won
39:22Churchill returned
39:23to Marrakesh
39:24many times
39:24and always
39:25with his paints
39:26which were now
39:27out of storage
39:28for good
39:29his first visit
39:30came
39:31as a new
39:32Labour government
39:33was settling in
39:34back home
39:35the wartime
39:36prime minister
39:37had been unceremoniously
39:39booted from office
39:40in a general election
39:42that was one
39:42of the most
39:43celebrated upsets
39:44in British political history
39:46exhausted
39:47and dejected
39:49he decamped here
39:50to the Mamounia Hotel
39:52with his entourage
39:53of family and staff
39:54alongside cases
39:57of Paul Roger
39:57champagne
39:58and whiskey
39:59frames
40:00canvases
40:01and easels
40:02would be shipped
40:03out from London
40:03and his hotel room
40:05would become
40:06a temporary
40:06painting studio
40:07again and again
40:08many times over
40:10during the next
40:11years of his life
40:12so what you get
40:14from a place
40:14like this
40:15is a high balcony
40:16and a huge view
40:17stretching for probably
40:1830 or 40 miles
40:19into the distance
40:20and you've got
40:20the Atlas Mountains
40:21in the far distance
40:22and you can exactly
40:23see why Churchill
40:24enjoyed this balcony
40:25in this particular view
40:25the mountains
40:27are kind of
40:28there's a kind of
40:29sense of alpine
40:30cleanliness
40:31and fresh air
40:32and it's a bracing
40:33of you I guess
40:34it opened the door
40:39to the total
40:40involvement of his mind
40:42he was a very
40:42intelligent man
40:43total involvement
40:44of his mind
40:44in making a picture
40:46which is a very
40:47complicated thing
40:48and not only that
40:49the total involvement
40:50more or less
40:51of his body
40:52because when you
40:52paint in oils
40:53you need to
40:54use the whole
40:55of your body
40:55and to be a
40:56successful painter
40:57you need to use
40:57the whole of their mind
40:58this is the first
41:00time I've painted
41:01an oil
41:01since my stroke
41:02obviously oils
41:05are kind of
41:06harder physically
41:07than watercolours
41:08or drawing
41:09because you've got
41:09so much gunk
41:10I'll make a massive
41:11amount of mess
41:12today I'm sure
41:12I'm effectively
41:14one-handed
41:14I can't hold
41:15the canvas
41:15and paint
41:16at the same time
41:17so my marks
41:18are going to be
41:18quite basic
41:20and simple
41:20and brutal
41:21if you like
41:21and it's a very
41:22complicated scene
41:23with lots and lots
41:24of subtlety
41:25about it
41:25am I going to be
41:26able to get
41:26that subtlety
41:27or am I just
41:27going to make
41:28a mess
41:28very good question
41:29he loved the
41:35south of France
41:36and he loved
41:37Morocco
41:37he said he wanted
41:38to go somewhere
41:39paintable and
41:39bathable
41:40when he went
41:41on holiday
41:41and very often
41:43he did find them
41:44the line of the
41:46mountains is quite
41:47simple
41:48you've got a lot
41:48of trees
41:49a lot of palm
41:49trees
41:50a lot of movement
41:50going on
41:51battlements
41:52the pleasure
41:53he got out
41:54of it
41:54was almost
41:55as a craft
41:56you know
41:57the technique
41:58of putting
41:58the paint
41:59onto the canvas
42:00he loved
42:01the texture
42:02of the paint
42:03the thickness
42:04of paint
42:05for different
42:06effects
42:06it was working
42:07with his hands
42:08after his
42:10monumental efforts
42:11in the war
42:12Churchill had
42:13become surplus
42:14to national
42:15requirements
42:15Morocco
42:16was just one
42:17of the many
42:18places he
42:18travelled to
42:19in the late
42:201940s
42:21as he embarked
42:22on a globe
42:23trotting life
42:24of semi-rejection
42:25from Miami
42:26Beach
42:27and the
42:27Mediterranean
42:28to Belgium
42:29and Jamaica
42:29he was always
42:31on the move
42:32and always
42:33painting
42:34was he coming
42:35to terms
42:35with the end
42:36of his career
42:37or was he
42:38recharging
42:39his batteries
42:40before he launched
42:41himself into it
42:42yet again
42:42there comes a time
42:45in the life
42:46of every painting
42:47when it kind of
42:47finishes itself
42:48when it announces
42:49to you
42:50that the more
42:50you paint
42:51the worse
42:51it's now
42:52going to get
42:52and thinking
42:55I made some
42:55good decisions
42:56I've got a
42:57very strong
42:57vertical
42:58very strong
42:58horizontal
42:59it's a very
43:00simple design
43:01and in this
43:01case it's not
43:02bad
43:02it's not a
43:03shameful painting
43:04I wish I'd
43:04worked harder
43:05before I started
43:06to put on
43:06the big slabs
43:06of colour
43:07am I happy
43:08with this picture
43:08no I'm not
43:09have I ever
43:11been happy
43:11with any picture
43:12I've done
43:13never
43:13it seems
43:18Churchill
43:18was never
43:19really satisfied
43:20with his
43:20paintings
43:20either
43:21he was
43:21certainly
43:22very
43:22reluctant
43:22to show
43:23them
43:23in public
43:23but in
43:281947
43:29when Churchill
43:30was in his
43:31mid-seventies
43:32the president
43:33of the Royal
43:33Academy
43:34Sir Alfred
43:34Munnings
43:35persuaded him
43:36to enter
43:37two of his
43:37paintings
43:38including
43:39this view
43:39of winter
43:40sunshine
43:41at Chartwell
43:41for the
43:42Academy's
43:43summer
43:43exhibition
43:44Churchill
43:46submitted
43:46the pictures
43:47under a
43:47pseudonym
43:48he wanted
43:48them to be
43:49accepted
43:49and hung
43:50on merit
43:51not because
43:52of who
43:52he was
43:53the subject
43:54of course
43:54of the
43:54picture
43:55might have
43:55been a bit
43:56of a
43:56giveaway
43:56at any
43:57rate
43:57the following
43:58year
43:58Churchill
43:59exhibited
43:59three
44:00pictures
44:00at the
44:00Academy
44:01under
44:01his
44:02own
44:02name
44:02the
44:04Royal
44:04Academy
44:04of
44:05Arts
44:05is
44:06the
44:06pinnacle
44:06the
44:07bastion
44:08the
44:08palazzo
44:09of the
44:09official
44:10British
44:10art
44:11world
44:11all up
44:12and down
44:12the country
44:13in the
44:131940s
44:14and 50s
44:15as now
44:16hundreds
44:16and thousands
44:17of amateur
44:18painters
44:19and sculptors
44:20dream of
44:21seeing their
44:21work hung
44:22here in the
44:23summer exhibition
44:24alongside the
44:25greats of the
44:26day
44:26and Churchill
44:27was no
44:28different
44:29in 1948
44:30he was made
44:31an honorary
44:32RA
44:32an almost
44:33unique
44:34honour
44:34for a
44:35non-professional
44:36artist
44:36and he took
44:37great pride
44:38and pleasure
44:39in this
44:39but it
44:40has to
44:40be said
44:41that
44:41characteristically
44:42for Churchill
44:43this was
44:43a conservative
44:44honour
44:45the RA
44:45has never
44:46been at the
44:47pinnacle
44:47the forefront
44:48of world
44:49art
44:50and Churchill
44:51and Sir
44:51Alfred Munnings
44:52famously discussed
44:53here how much
44:54they hated
44:55modern art
44:56and in particular
44:57which of them
44:58would most like
44:59to kick
44:59Mr Picasso
45:00up the
45:01bum
45:01he was enjoying
45:05the honours
45:06that often
45:06come to
45:07great men
45:07in retirement
45:08but Churchill
45:09wasn't done
45:10with politics
45:11yet
45:11astonishingly
45:13in 1951
45:14he became
45:15prime minister
45:16for a second
45:17time
45:18and he soldiered
45:19on through
45:19a full term
45:20despite
45:21several strokes
45:23when he left
45:27number 10
45:28for good
45:28in 1955
45:29Churchill
45:30travelled
45:31back to
45:31the south
45:31of France
45:32to paint
45:33at the
45:33Villa La Pausa
45:34the former
45:35home of
45:36Coco Chanel
45:36was now
45:37home of
45:38Churchill's
45:38literary agent
45:39Emery Reeves
45:40in the past
45:42painting had
45:43been an antidote
45:44to mental
45:44turmoil
45:45now the
45:47challenge was
45:48physical instead
45:49we know that
45:51Churchill sat
45:52in this
45:52more or less
45:53exact spot
45:53and painted
45:54this more or
45:55less exact view
45:56a great deal
45:57better than I'm
45:57painting it
45:57I have to say
45:58but nonetheless
45:59and you can see
46:00the attraction
46:01it is just a riot
46:02of vivid colours
46:03exploding to you
46:04you've got the
46:04lovely little
46:05mediterranean town
46:06of Montau
46:07right in front of you
46:08a kind of symphony
46:09of pinks
46:10and creams
46:11and bright white
46:12La Pausa for my
46:19grandfather was
46:20a haven
46:22in a way
46:23he was
46:24very lucky
46:25that he was
46:26able to spend
46:26so much time
46:27there
46:27and
46:28he went
46:29there for lunch
46:30one day
46:30and met
46:31Wendy and Emery
46:31Reeves
46:32and obviously
46:33expressed such
46:34enthusiasm
46:34that they
46:35put a whole room
46:36at his disposal
46:37in fact a whole floor
46:38at his disposal
46:39and he used
46:40it his own
46:41and Wendy Reeves
46:43would be
46:44amazingly helpful
46:46and she'd invent
46:47things for him
46:47to paint
46:48it was a very
46:49agreeable
46:49wonderful place
46:50for him to be
46:51I think he was
46:55having a marvellous
46:56time
46:57at an easel
46:58you know
46:59fighting the paint
47:00into submission
47:01puffing away
47:03on his cigar
47:04forgetting the cares
47:06of the world
47:07and
47:09having a lovely
47:10time with light
47:11and landscape
47:12and it was
47:13something he could
47:14do wherever
47:14he went
47:15I understand
47:24from personal
47:25experience
47:26the physical
47:26challenges
47:27of recovering
47:28from a stroke
47:28but for Churchill
47:29in his mid-70s
47:31to paint again
47:32after all he had
47:33been through
47:34speaks volumes
47:36for his sheer
47:37bloody mindedness
47:38he had many
47:40faults
47:40but you would
47:40never call him
47:42a quitter
47:42Churchill
47:44never lost
47:45his ambition
47:45all his life
47:46he remained
47:47in his old age
47:48as determined
47:49to change the world
47:50as he ever was
47:51he wanted to get
47:52rid of the nuclear bomb
47:53he wanted to have
47:54a new peace treaty
47:55with the Soviet Union
47:56he was full of ambition
47:57and they stopped
47:58him doing it
47:59he was too old
48:00too ill
48:01rambled on
48:02too long
48:03they made him go
48:05now we know
48:06what happens
48:06when politicians
48:07are forced out
48:07it's always bloody
48:08it's always difficult
48:09think of Margaret Thatcher
48:10well Churchill
48:11didn't rage
48:12he didn't
48:13sort of
48:14try to enter
48:14politics
48:15he didn't make
48:15stupid speeches
48:16he carried on
48:17one of the ways
48:18he carried on
48:19was simply sitting
48:19here painting
48:20he had one thing
48:22that he could do
48:22that they couldn't
48:23take away from him
48:24I suppose
48:24and it was this
48:26besides his family
48:41there was no one better
48:43place to understand
48:44what art gave to
48:45Churchill at this time
48:46than his bodyguard
48:48from 1950
48:55from 1950 until his death
48:56Sergeant Edmund Murray
48:58ex-foreign legion
48:59ex-metropolitan police
49:01travelled everywhere
49:02with Churchill
49:03Murray was a keen
49:05amateur painter
49:06himself
49:07and he soon became
49:08Churchill's
49:09painting assistant
49:10as well
49:10Bill your father was
49:15Churchill's close
49:16protection officer
49:17during the 1950s
49:18tell us a little bit
49:19about him first
49:19my father was a metropolitan
49:21police officer
49:22and he joined special
49:24branch in 1949
49:26and he came up for
49:29protection duties
49:30and was shortlisted
49:32I think perhaps because
49:33he'd spent seven or eight
49:36years in the French
49:37foreign legion
49:38and he could speak
49:38French fluently
49:39and also Arabic as well
49:41so foreign legion
49:42French Arabic
49:43but beyond all of that
49:44he was a painter too
49:46he was yes
49:47and is it true that he
49:48would actually scope out
49:49places for Churchill to
49:50paint and find the places
49:51that Churchill then painted
49:52yes that's right
49:53he'd had a camera
49:55that was given to him
49:57by by Sir Winston
49:59and dad had to go around
50:01the sites and find the
50:03right places
50:03but obviously he had to
50:04think of security
50:05and also think of access
50:07as well because
50:08certainly in the later years
50:09Sir Winston wasn't really
50:11very mobile
50:12and they'd paint together
50:14side by side
50:14from time to time
50:15sometimes
50:16usually that would have
50:17been at Chartwell
50:18or occasionally abroad
50:19there was such a lot of
50:21equipment to carry around
50:22that really there was
50:23only enough equipment
50:24for Sir Winston to paint
50:25and not my father
50:26and right from the early
50:28days of my father
50:29being the bodyguard
50:30Sir Winston gave instructions
50:32that no one else
50:33was to set out his paints
50:34other than my father
50:36because he knew
50:37what Sir Winston wanted
50:38what he needed
50:38the colours he needed
50:39the equipment he needed
50:41so that's real luxury
50:43for any painter
50:43to have somebody else
50:44to lay out the paints
50:45clean the brushes
50:46sort you out
50:47exactly right
50:47yes
50:48fantastic
50:48yeah that's true
50:49and they clearly shared
50:51so much
50:52as a result of which
50:53you have
50:53Winston Churchill's paints
50:55and some of Sir Winston's
50:56own brushes
50:57and it's quite moving
50:58because you can still see
50:59the gobs of paint
51:00and the bits of the brush
51:02where he has worn them
51:03away by stabbing
51:04and slashing at the canvas
51:05and his special painting
51:07spectacles
51:07and his great painting hat
51:09his painting hat
51:10one of his painting hats
51:11because certainly in the sunny
51:14sunny climates
51:16of the south of France
51:17Morocco and Jamaica
51:18the hat was really important
51:20and essential
51:21you wouldn't want to burn your head
51:22it's a very very fine hat
51:23it's a little bit too small
51:24for my head
51:25big head
51:26and above all
51:27we've got this extraordinary painting here
51:29which is like an abstract picture
51:31it's a mysterious dark abstract painting
51:34but it's actually of the goldfish pond
51:36at Chartwell
51:37yes
51:38probably in his late 80s
51:40my father managed to get
51:42Sir Winston out
51:43to do one last painting
51:45and we think it was that one
51:46it's definitely of the goldfish pond
51:50at Chartwell
51:50and by that time
51:52Sir Winston's eyesight
51:53had got quite poor
51:54it's very blurred
51:57it's very streaky
51:58it's a strange painting
51:59but at Chartwell
52:00the goldfish ponds are dark
52:02you can imagine a very very old man
52:04staring through the sort of dark
52:06turbid waters
52:07down to the flashes of gold
52:08it's like a kind of vision
52:09of something isn't it
52:10yeah
52:10there's something moving
52:11it's like an old man
52:12looking through reality
52:14for some brightness beyond
52:15but this could be the last painting
52:17he ever made
52:17I think it is
52:19yes
52:20Churchill painted
52:21almost to the end
52:24but it was only after he died
52:26in January 1965
52:28that the full extent
52:29of his artistic endeavours
52:31became clear
52:32more than 500 canvases
52:35an extraordinary creative counterpoint
52:38to one of the 20th century's
52:40most extraordinary lives
52:42now you had the great good luck
52:44David
52:44of being the first person
52:46to properly catalogue
52:47Churchill's paintings
52:48in the 1960s
52:49what did that teach you about him?
52:51absolutely knocked me out
52:53and still knocks me out
52:54if I can use that word
52:54was the overall sensitivity
52:56of this work
52:58now I grew up during the war
53:00I was well aware of Churchill's
53:02fame as a warrior
53:05as a leader
53:05and so on
53:06and I never expected
53:08that sensitivity
53:09and yet it's
53:10it's through the whole of his art
53:11I think it's wonderful
53:13and still do
53:14in late 2014
53:16came a moment
53:17that Churchill would have loved
53:19some of his paintings
53:21were auctioned
53:22at Sotheby's
53:23in London
53:24he saw himself
53:28as a politician
53:29and a writer
53:30he didn't see himself
53:32as a painter
53:33particularly
53:34but he found this thing
53:36this pastime
53:37that sort of really
53:39electrified him
53:41you see that spirit
53:43in his paintings
53:44and you hear it
53:45in the only public statement
53:47he ever made
53:47about his art
53:49to restore psychic equilibrium
53:51we should bring into use
53:53those parts of the mind
53:54which direct
53:56both eye
53:56and hand
53:58painting is complete
54:00as a destruction
54:01I know of nothing else
54:03which without exhausting
54:05the body
54:06more completely
54:08absorbs the mind
54:09one sweep of the palette knife
54:12removes the blood and tears
54:14of a morning
54:14innocent
54:16absorbing
54:17recuperative
54:18now
54:20Churchill's paintings
54:21so revealing
54:22of his private obsessions
54:23struggles
54:24passions
54:25and eccentricities
54:26are being taken
54:27more seriously
54:28than ever
54:29having spent
54:32most of my life
54:33with them
54:33I somewhat
54:34took them for granted
54:35you know
54:36I haven't been
54:37sitting at home
54:38all our lives
54:39thinking
54:39gosh
54:40you know
54:40they're valuable
54:41or they're this
54:42they're just
54:42my parents' pictures
54:44or grandpapa's pictures
54:46or pictures by grandpapa
54:48or
54:48and my knowledge of them
54:51to start with
54:52was
54:52the miniscule
54:54end of minor
54:55the star lot
54:59at Sotheby's
55:00his goldfish pond
55:01at Chartwell
55:02raised almost
55:03two million pounds
55:04it's a price
55:06that says
55:06as much about
55:07Churchill's fame
55:08as it does
55:09about his skill
55:10although he's a much
55:11more accomplished painter
55:12than I'm ever likely to be
55:14but it has to be said
55:18that the quality
55:19or cost
55:20of Churchill's pictures
55:21isn't really the point
55:23their value
55:24isn't gauged
55:25by money
55:25or even critical opinion
55:27but in understanding
55:29what the act of creation
55:30meant for him
55:32and by extension
55:33for history
55:34no one could question
55:36what he'd put on the canvas
55:38that was how he saw it
55:39and that was the way
55:41he could
55:42show
55:43the beautiful things
55:45that he saw around him
55:46but at the same time
55:47express himself
55:48I think the paintings
55:50are expressive
55:51of yet another dimension
55:53to my rather
55:54amazing grandfather's
55:57extraordinary breadth
55:58and here is a man
56:00who will try anything
56:01here is a man
56:03of great courage
56:04you know
56:05give him a blank canvas
56:06and he'll have a go
56:08he'll sort of fight it
56:11into submission
56:12he genuinely loved it
56:14in my experience
56:17my grandfather
56:19as I knew him
56:19wasn't this
56:20great fierce bulldog
56:22he was a very benign person
56:24who loved having us
56:26all around
56:26and so I think
56:28that the paintings
56:29perhaps
56:30come from that side of him
56:33and as he said
56:34I would like to spend
56:35my first million years
56:37in heaven
56:38painting
56:39apart from that
56:40showing terrific confidence
56:41in what will happen
56:43to him
56:43at the pearly gates
56:44you know
56:47he absolutely loved it
56:49and he couldn't spend
56:51too much time
56:52at the easel
56:53now we all know
56:55don't we
56:55that Churchill
56:56liked to deal with
56:57some of the gravest
56:58most serious matters
56:59by making jokes
57:01about them
57:01so for instance
57:03success consists
57:04consists in going
57:05from failure
57:06to failure
57:07with undiminished enthusiasm
57:09or this is wartime motto
57:11KBO
57:12keep buggering on
57:13but in truth
57:15there comes to all of us
57:16at a certain time in life
57:18when the accumulated failures
57:19and the mistakes
57:21and the disappointments
57:22and the blows
57:23in his case
57:23the worst of them
57:24self-inflicted
57:25are so great
57:26that simply
57:27keeping going
57:28getting out of bed
57:29in the morning
57:30and putting on
57:30on your clothes
57:31and carrying on
57:32becomes a kind of problem
57:34for all of us
57:35in a small way
57:35for Churchill
57:36in a grand way
57:37and the more I look around
57:39and the more I read
57:40the surer I am
57:42that for Churchill
57:43painting
57:44was his great secret
57:45in all of this
57:46it was the thing
57:47that allowed him
57:48to get away from himself
57:49to relax
57:50to keep going
57:51to say to his ego
57:52you push off
57:53I'm busy for a while
57:54that primal business
57:56of simply recording
57:57the world
57:58around him
57:58and therefore
58:00he was still available
58:01still standing
58:02still courageous
58:03still with zest
58:04and enthusiasm
58:05in 1939-1940
58:07to lead this country
58:08and so if Churchill
58:10saved the country
58:12and he did
58:13and painting
58:14saved Churchill
58:15stopped him
58:16from going mad
58:18what does that say
58:19about the importance
58:20of painting?
58:28Historian AJP Taylor
58:37examines the role
58:38of Winston Churchill
58:39in The Warlords
58:40available now
58:41on BBC iPlayer
58:42and coming up here
58:43on BBC4
58:44a look at Stalin's role
58:45in the Second World War
58:471941
58:48and The Man of Steel
58:49next
58:49The Man of Steel