When most people think of Winston Churchill, they picture a man standing outside Number 10 Downing Street, cigar in hand, making the famous V for victory sign. They hear the speeches that rallied Britain during the darkest days of the Second World War. They remember the defiant Prime Minister who refused to surrender when much of Europe had fallen under Nazi control. Churchill has become one of history’s greatest political figures, a symbol of courage and determination. Yet behind this public image was another Churchill, one who sought not power, but peace. Away from Parliament, military strategy and political arguments, he would often disappear into his studio or set up an easel in a garden, on a hillside or beside a lake. There, dressed in old clothes splattered with oil paint, he became simply another artist chasing light across a canvas. Over the course of his life, Churchill completed more than 500 paintings. Far from being a casual hobby, painting became one of the defining passions of his life, helping him survive political failure, personal despair and the unimaginable pressures of leading Britain through war.

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