The painting, entitled Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque, was created by Churchill in 1943, after he attended a conference of world leaders in Marrakech, Morocco. Some may be surprised to learn that it is the Prime Minister’s only painting from the World War II period—or at least, that it is the only painting we know of.
The head of Modern British Art at Christie’s, Nick Orchard, posits in a statement to CNN that Churchill was “perhaps encouraged by the recent progress made by the Allies in what he considered to be one of the most beautiful countries he had encountered."