Footnotes

Provenance
The Artist
With Hamet Gallery, London, 28 January 1971, where acquired by the family of the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.

Exhibited
London, Hamet Gallery, William Roberts R.A. – A Retrospective Exhibition, 16 February-13 March 1971 (ill.)

The present and following lot come from a distinguished family collection in London and have remained in the same private hands for decades. Bonhams were proud to also offer the important 1941 watercolour Demolition Squad from the same collection in June 2018 (sold for £125,000). The present owner recalls the close relationship his parents enjoyed with the Roberts family, with his mother and Sarah Roberts being especially close, and fond memories of visiting the Roberts' home at 14 St Marks Crescent, NW1 as a child for tea and boat trips together on the nearby canal. William, Sarah and their son John moved to St Marks Crescent as tenants in 1946 and latterly became owners of the property in 1951. They were to live there for the rest of their lives. With a firm friendship established and a conviction that William Roberts was among the greatest British artists of their time, the present owner's family admirably set about supporting his work and acquired a number of important examples by the artist.

The present work dates to 1970 and depicts Winston Churchill (who had died five years prior) and Pablo Picasso in an informal setting at their outdoor easels. The elder statesman, instantly recognisable by his trademark cigar and formal attire, sits painting under the shade of a parasol. A further box of cigars and an open bottle of red wine (perhaps his preferred Melnik 55?) are ready on the table. By contrast, the Spaniard stands at his easel dressed casually for the weather in hot pink swimwear and flip flops. The difference in their apparel is echoed in their entirely different artistic approaches with Churchill favouring a more traditional style and Picasso as the ultimate Modernist.

There is a humour to this fictitious scene (and title) as the esteemed pair were not friends (although they did share a love of painting outside in the South of France), with Churchill once allegedly declaring that if he met Picasso in the street, he would give him a kick up the backside! Picasso, for his part, graciously said of Churchill 'He saved England.... And more than that he saved us all'.

The present work may have been prompted by the publication in late summer 1970 of Time's Thievish Progress, a third volume of autobiography by Roberts' bête noire Sir John Rothenstein, former director of the Tate Gallery, in which a chapter was devoted to consideration of Churchill as a painter.

Please note that a squared pencil study for this lot may be found in the Tate Archive (Estate of John David Roberts).

We are grateful to David Cleall and Bob Davenport for information provided about this lot.