Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) Prime Minister

Location

Country: Croatia
City: Zagreb
Place: British Embassy

Churchill first met Nemon in Morocco in 1951, the year in which he became Prime Minister for the second time. Two years later, Nemon was commissioned by Her Majesty the Queen to make a sculpture of Churchill for the Royal Collection, in honour of the statesman's impending eightieth year. Churchill sat to Nemon at Chartwell, Downing Street and Chequers; this bust was cast by Nemon's son in the late 1990s and was presented to the Government Art Collection in 2004. It captures Churchill's solemn determination, so iconic and familiar to a modern audience, yet also suggests his wisdom and humanity.

Oscar Nemon was born in Osijek, in modern Croatia. He demonstrated an early talent for drawing and devoted himself to sculpture from his mid teens. After working for a year at his uncle's bronze foundry in Vienna in the early 1920s, he studied in Paris and at the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts in Brussels. He moved to England before the outbreak of the Second World War and settled in Oxford, developing a reputation as a leading sculptor and receiving commissions from notable figures.

Oscar Nemon was born in Osijek (today in Croatia), and began modelling in clay at the age of 14, after which he devoted himself to sculpture. In 1923 he lived in Vienna where he cast works at his uncle’s bronze foundry. He studied in Paris and at the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts, Brussels, and exhibited sculptures of notable figures in the 1930s. After moving to England, he settled in Oxford, and held his first exhibition in London in 1942. He became a British citizen, and received commissions for portraits of the Queen, Harold MacMillan, Sigmund Freud and other important 20th century figures. Nemon continued to work up to his death in 1985, and today many of his works can still be seen at his house and studio in Oxford.

People

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874 - 1965)

Places

Subjects

male portrait, man, Leader of the Conservative Party, Leader of the House of Commons, Secretary of State for the Colonies, First Lord of the Admiralty, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Member of Parliament, Prime Minister, Secretary of State for War, President of the Board of Trade, Minister of Defence

Materials & Techniques

marble, bronze, bust (as object name), bronze sculpture, base

Artist

Oscar Nemon (1906 - 1985)

Title

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) Prime Minister

Edition

4/6

Date

plaster made 1956, cast 1990s

Medium

Bronze bust on marble base

Dimensions

width: 40.50 cm, height: 44.00 cm, depth: 44.00 cm

Acquisition

Presented by Alice Nemon Stuart, March 2004

Inscription

verso br: NEMON JX [?] / ESTATE OF NEMON 4/6

Provenance

Alice Nemon Stuart (daughter-in-law of artist)

GAC number

17861