An oil painting by Winston Churchill has been sold in a Canadian auction triggered by the closure of the oldest company in North America, the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Hudson Bay’s Company was founded in 1670 as a colonial trading monopoly under a charter granted by King Charles II.
The business, which at times all-but governed large parts of what is now Canada, went through a number of iterations and was most visible in Canadian life as a chain of department stores.
The business was liquidated from March 2025, triggering a series of auctions of the firm’s art collection, the most promising of which closed in Heffel auction house in Toronto yesterday, November 19.
Marrakech by Winston Churchill was the star item, demanding an opening bid of C$500,000 and a C$400,000 to C$600,000 estimate.
The Churchill picture, Marrakech, attracted considerable attention as a Canadian institution closed its doors. The Prime Minister was said to have found peace while painting in the Moroccan city. Image courtesy of CNW Group/Heffel Fine Art Auction House.
In a sale that was reported live by CBC, Canada’s national broadcaster, a bidding war started up in the auction room and by telephone, pushing the painting to a final total of C$1.3 million, around £707,000. A final price with premiums has yet to be published.
Winston Churchill was a towering political figure. A major collecting market brings big prices for anything to do with his life, and particularly his World War II leadership of the UK. He was also a well-regarded painter, producing over 500 known works, which have proved some of the most valuable items associated with him.
This picture was painted in oils by Churchill during a long holiday in his beloved Marrakech in the winter of 1935. He gave it to the Hudson’s Bay Company that year.
Churchill’s most valuable painting, Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque, was also painted in Marrakesh (the city’s modern name). It was sold by its owner, actor Angelina Jolie, for £8.3 million in 2021.
The Hudson’s Bay Company sale was a “white glove” sell out presided over by David Heffel dressed in a jacket in the company’s striped livery. His brother, Richard, told CBC: “We’ve been doing this for 30 years, but that was electric.”
