The Statesman as Artist: author David Cannadine on Winston Churchill
Festival of Ideas
Tuesday 11 September 2018 7 - 8pm
The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
£20, £12 concessions
In this lecture, author and historian David Cannadine reveals how Churchill’s passion for art went beyond that of a private hobby, forming an essential part of his public persona.
Over the course of half a century, Winston Churchill produced more than 500 paintings. In times of both war and peace, Churchill came to enjoy painting as a means of repose and escape from the toil of public life.
From evocative scenes of the French Riviera and the sun-drenched landscapes of Marrakesh, to the familiar touchstones of his family homes at Blenheim and Chartwell, Churchill also turned his hand to still-lifes and even completed an extraordinarily revealing self-portrait
Cannadine specialises in modern history and has written extensively on the British Empire and Aristocracy. Churchill: The Statesman as Artist was published in 2017. He is the Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and President of The British Academy, the national academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
This event will be followed by a Q&A, chaired by the Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy, Charles Saumarez Smith.