"Winston and the Windsors" by Andrew Morton

In late October, we were back at the St. Louis County Library. We had previously attended the talk by mystery writer Elizabeth George; this time it was the British writer, Andrew Morton. 

Morton became an almost-household name in Britain in the 1990s when he wrote not just “a” book but “the” book about Princess Diana – the one she agreed to do. Diana: Her True Story nearly toppled the British monarchy – or at least Diana’s revelations seriously damaged the institution. 

 

Morton has since written books about Monica Lewinsky, Madonna, David and Victoria Beckham, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, and William and Catherine when they were still the duke and duchess of Cambridge. You might say he’s an A-List celebrity biographer.

 

But his more recent attention has turned from contemporary celebrities to those who are more historical. And that’s what we were there to hear him talk about –Winston and the Windsors: How Churchill Shaped a Royal Dynasty. 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest.

Some Wednesday Readings

 

15 Things a Writer Should Never Do – Zachary Petit at Writer’s Digest.

 

Elitism is good – Henry Oliver at The Common Reader.

Some Christmas Eve Readings – Dec. 24, 2024

A Little Mischief Poem and Best Wishes for the Holidays – Tweetspeak Poetry. 

The Body in Advent – poem by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Timeless Magic: How Dickens Created a Christmas Classic – Jason Clark at This Is the Day.

 

“A Visit from St. Nicholas,” poem by Clement Clark Moore – Joseph Bottum at Pomes Ancient and Modern.

 

A Historic Christmas Message from the Moon – Hugh Whechel at the Institute of Faith, Work, & Economics. (Eve)

 

Think You Know the Christmas Story? – Michael Kruger at Canon Fodder.

 

Father Christmas Belongs in Narnia – Aaron Earls at The Wardrobe Door.

 

Advent IV – Andrew Peterson at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Things Worth Remembering: Winston Churchill’s Christmas Message to America – Douglas Murray at The Free Press.

 

At Smithfield on Christmas Eve – Spitalfields Life.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Luke 2:14 - Doug Spurling.

 

Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” (1966)

Painting: St. Joseph Seeks Lodging in Bethlehem, oil on canvas by James Tissot (1836-1902).

“Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings”

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, on the grounds of Washington University, has an excellent exhibit of “The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill” which will close on Feb. 14. In November, I had a post about the exhibit, noting that it was sponsored by the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Mo., site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946.

The companion book for the exhibition, Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and Paintings by David Coombs with Minnie Churchill, is something of an anomaly. At the exhibition, you can buy it for $71.95. On Amazon, it is available through third-party sellers, with prices starting at 353 for a used copy and $611 for a new copy. The book originally published in 2011 and, I believe, “adopted” for the exhibition.

It’s a coffee table kind of book – large, rather lavish, filled with color reproductions of virtually all of Churchill’s known paintings and a few photographs of some that are currently lost.

Churchill began to paint in 1915, when he was 40 years old. He had a penchant for landscapes of almost all kinds – beaches, valleys, meadows, the Kentish countryside around his home, Chartwell, and mountains, but he was by no means limited to landscapes. He also painted still lifes, buildings, homes, rooms, and people. He managed to work himself into his paintings (such as the one at the top – the figure at the furthest right). He even wrote a book about painting – Painting as Pastime.

To see Churchill’s paintings together gives a sense of what the man accomplished as a “pastime.” He wasn’t “just a painter;” he was a good painter, an artist, certainly influenced by Impressionism but with his own unique style.

The exhibit at the Kemper is a wonderful show; as good as the book it, it’s no substitute for seeing the real paintings up close and with explanations of many of them as to their context, little known facts, and the historical circumstances surrounding them.

Painting: Beach at Walmer, oil on canvas by Sir Winston Churchill (1938); private collection.