John Spencer-Churchill (artist)

For other people named John Spencer-Churchill, see John Spencer-Churchill (disambiguation).

John George Spencer-Churchill (31 May 1909, London – 23 June 1992) was an English painter, sculptor and a stockbroker.[1]

He was taken under the wing of Sir William Nicholson when he toured Italy aged only twenty-three years. Later he met Bernard Meninsky travelling from Munich to Madrid. He was still there in Malaga during the Spanish Civil War sketching for the Illustrated London News.

The son of John Strange Spencer-Churchill and nephew of Sir Winston Churchill, he married Angela Culme-Seymour[2] in Portofino in 1934. They had a daughter in 1935 and the family lived briefly with the Winston Churchills at Chartwell, before returning to Spain but the marriage did not last long, for Angela formed a relationship with a French Count, René de Chatellus.[3] His sister Clarissa married Anthony Eden in 1952—becoming Lady Eden in 1954 when he was made a Knight of the Garter, wife of the Prime Minister when Winston Churchill retired in 1955, and later the Countess of Avon in 1961 on his elevation to the peerage. He painted for Lady Churchill at Chartwell on many projects, doing murals and friezes that exist today.[4]

He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-john-spencer-churchill-1532076.html
  2. ↑ Obituary on BBC Radio 4's Last Word http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bmq2z#p00p89r1
  3. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9060216/Angela-Culme-Seymour.html
  4. ↑ Frances Spaldinng, '20th Century Painters and Sculptors', Dictionary of British Art, vol.VI, (Antique Collectors Club, 1990)


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