Join Dr Xavier Bray, Director of the Wallace Collection, and Professor Sir David Cannadine, Dodge Professor of History at Princeton University, as they discuss Winston Churchill's remarkable artistic journey.

You will learn how - during inauspicious circumstances of political failure - Churchill first picked up the brush at age 40 and began to exhibit his paintings anonymously. You will discover how, as his confidence grew, Churchill began to promote his work and the beneficial effects of painting as a hobby. Find out more about the key role of painting in Churchill's post-war identity, especially in relation to diplomacy, and his acceptance into the British artistic establishment.

About the speakers:

Dr Xavier Bray is Director of the Wallace Collection and co-curator of Winston Churchill: The Painter.

Professor Sir David Cannadine is one of Britain's leading historians, and is the author of many books including The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy, The Rise and Fall of Class in Britain, Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire, The Undivided Past, Victorious Century, and biographies of G.M. Trevelyan, Andrew W. Mellon, King George V, Margaret Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II.  He is currently chair of the Trustees of the Royal Mint Museum, a Governor of the Museum of London, and a Trustee of the Wolfson Foundation and World Monuments Fund UK.  He was previously editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, President of the British Academy and chair of the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, and a regular broadcaster on radio and television.

Take part at the museum: Join us at the museum for this special talk, followed by drinks and Winston Churchill: The Painter exhibition visit until 20.45.

Watch online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum via Zoom. Online ticketholders will be emailed a link to join 24 hours in advance. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks.