Meetings in Marrakech: the Paintings of Winston Churchill and Hassan El Glaoui
20 Jan 12 – 31 Mar 12
london. In keeping with the spirit of cultural cross-communication that underpins Leighton House’s arts programme, nine paintings of Marrakech by Winston Churchill are on display next to 15 works by the Moroccan painter, Hassan El Glaoui, son of the Pasha of Marrakech, the wartime prime minister’s old friend.
This is the first time that Churchill’s paintings have been exhibited alongside another artist’s. The two are bound together by their mutual and inspiring love for the city, but it was Churchill himself who, on seeing young El Glaoui’s paintings during his 1943 visit to the Pasha, convinced the reluctant father to allow his son to pursue his calling.
Touria El Glaoui, the artist’s daughter and the show’s originator, recalls how she “grew up with the family myth of Churchill convincing my grandfather to let my father paint.
So when I read an article some years ago by Celia Sandys [Churchill’s granddaughter] on Churchill’s love of Marrakech, I decided to see what could be done.” The exhibition has been two years in the making.
Most of El Glaoui’s works are on loan from the artist’s collection. The nine Churchill paintings are on loan from his Chartwell estate, which is run by the National Trust.
While negotiating the loan from Chartwell, Leighton House also secured a partnership with the trust that allows some members to purchase half-price tickets.
The partnership will be formally announced at the show’s opening. While El Glaoui is primarily known for his colourful paintings of traditional Moroccan horsemen, Churchill’s focus was always on landscape.
The show’s curator, Daniel Robbins, has weighted El Glaoui’s contribution to the show in favour of his lesser known landscapes to emphasise the stylistic and personal links between the two painters.
“It’s a side of his work that is often overlooked”. King Mohammed VI of Morocco is the patron of the show. Ermanno Rivetti
Categories: African Modern (1900-1945) Post-War (1945-70)