Clare Walsh is this week delivering a lecture on the artistic side of British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Churchill took to painting with gusto following his ejection from the Admiralty at the time of the 1915 Gallipoli disaster. Painting was the mainstay that allowed one of the greatest national leaders to achieve all that he did.

Claire Walsh

At 40 years old, Churchill found in painting a passion that was to remain his constant companion, He produced over 500 works, recording landscapes from the Riviera to Blenheim, Chartwell and Marrakech. 

He took lessons from John Lavery, Walter Sickert and William Nicholson, and the choices he made tell us much about the colour, texture and direction of art in the early 20th century.

The most fascinating aspects of this exploration of a talent beyond the mere amateur is the role it played in his personal and political life, the restorative power of the process of painting and the insight it allows us into the art of his age.

Traditional in style, Churchill painted mainly oil on canvas and portraiture, building up a collection which largely remains in his studio at Chartwell.

Walsh  has previously worked and lectured at the V&A Museum in London and has lectured at the University of Warwick.  She now lectures for the Open University. 

She has lectured widely in Britain, at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Museum of London among others, as well as to specialist groups including the Art Fund, the Ceramics Society, the Costume Society and the Ancient Monuments Society.

Walsh has also lectured in Europe, the US (including Yale and the Huntington) and Canada and has numerous publications.

The lecture Winston Churchill The Artist will take place on Thursday at 6.30pm (registration from 6pm) at the Salini Resort Hotel. For more information, contact asinmalta@theartssociety.org or visit asinmalta.theartssociety.org or www.facebook.com/maltadecorativeandfineartsociety.