The fact that Winston Churchill’s painting, which Angelina Jolie sells at auction for millions, was bought for her by Brad Pitt as a gift, sources familiar with the sale for Page Six say.
Pitt, 57, and Jolie, 45, are still involved in an interminable divorce battle after announcing their separation in 2016. Reports did not say why Jolie is downloading the work. the art.
The 1943 Churchill painting was last purchased from New Orleans antique dealer MS Rau for $ 2.95 million in 2011 by an unnamed buyer and reached the Jolie Family collection. Sources say the Page Six buyer at the time was a passionate art collector Pitt, who gave it to Jolie.
Sources have also told us that Pitt’s role in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 World War II drama, “Inglourious Basterds,” helped inspire his interest in Churchill’s opera. The Hollywood couple would once have visited the Churchill war rooms together in Great Britain with a private tour.
The painting, “Koutoubia Mosque Tower,” was created by Churchill for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and is estimated to bring in up to $ 3.4 million through Christie’s.
Before Pitt bought it, the painting was passed from Roosevelt to his son Elliott, who sold it in 1950 to a Nebraska art collector. It was later sold to a film producer, Norman G. Hickman, who was involved in a 1964 Churchill-themed film, “The Finest Hours.” The painting was then left to Hickman’s relatives after he died and was liquidated in a closet for 15 years until it was sold by Rau.
Representatives for Pitt and Jolie did not comment immediately.