That the painting Angelina Jolie by Winston Churchill sells for millions at auction was bought for her by Brad Pitt as a gift, sources familiar with the sale to Page Six say.
Pitt, 57, and Jolie, 45, are still embroiled in an endless divorce battle after announcing their split in 2016. Reports have not said why Jolie is unloading the artwork.
Churchill’s 1943 painting was last purchased in 2011 from New Orleans antiques dealer MS Rau for $ 2.95 million by an unnamed buyer, and ended up in the Jolie Family Collection. Sources tell Page Six that the buyer at the time was an avid art collector Pitt, who donated it to Jolie.
Sources further told us that Pitt’s role in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 World War II drama, “Inglourious Basterds”, has sparked his interest in Churchill’s work. The Hollywood couple also reportedly once visited the Churchill War Rooms in the UK on a private tour.
The painting, “Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque,” was created by Churchill for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and is estimated to be worth $ 3.4 million through Christie’s.
Before Pitt bought it, Roosevelt’s painting was passed on to his son Elliott, who sold it to an art collector in Nebraska in 1950. 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 his death and left in a closet for 15 years until sold by Rau.
Representatives for Pitt and Jolie did not immediately comment.