The excellent documentary on politics and painting: “Andrew Marr on Churchill: Blood, Sweat and Oil Paint” is being repeated on BBC i-Player at the moment. It will be of interest to art historians, researchers into WW2 and people who, like Churchill, are keen amateur painters (he painted over 500 canvases) or, like Andrew Marr, recovering from a stroke. Another reason to watch it are the exotic locations revisited by the programme – including one particular favourite, the former home of Coco Channel on the Riviera (then owned by Churchill’s literary agent).
I reviewed this programme previously – my conclusion being that it is well worth viewing: it brings history alive, transports the viewer to different times and places and is well-researched, with interviews with Churchill’s grand-daughters, the son of his bodyguard, his cataloguer. His painting accompanied him through a life of much variations: early promise, political wilderness, depression, leading a nation through a World War, diplomacy with other world leaders, acclaim, and into his later years through illness and strokes. One of his grand-daughters describes it as “a life-saver”, the other as a “pleasure” also.
If you’d like to see my comments previously – type in “Churchill” on the search box on this site, and go to the former article.
If you live in the UK, are a TV licence payer, and want to see the programme, you can do so here:
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