A Winston Churchill painting called 'Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque' that the 'Maleficent' star is selling at auction was reportedly bought by her ex-husband as a gift to her in 2011.
- Feb 4, 2021
AceShowbiz - Angelina Jolie is selling off an expensive present from Brad Pitt. Having been caught in a divorce battle with the "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" actor for years, the "Changeling" actress was reported to have put a multi-million dollar painting he gifted to her on sale.
The painting in question was a creation of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that is called "Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque". According to Page Six, Christie's auction house estimated that the piece will fetch from $2.1 million to $3.4 million in an auction set to take place in March.
The work was unveiled to be bought by Angelina's estranged husband Brad in 2011 and has since been put in the Jolie Family Collection. It was made by Winston after attending the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 in Morocco. He originally gave it to former POTUS Franklin D. Roosevelt.
On what inspired Brad to purchase the artwork, sources told Page Six that it was his role in the 2009 war film "Inglourious Basterds". He and his estranged wife were also said to have once visited the Churchill War Rooms in the United Kingdom together during a private tour.
Angelina divorced Brad in September 2016. They have since been entangled in a long and contentious custody battle over their six children, 19-year-old Maddox, 17-year-old Pax, 15-year-old Zahara, 14-year-old Shiloh, as well as 12-year-old Vivienne and Knox.
Following the split, the "Maleficent" star admitted that she has been through a "pretty hard" time. When asked whether she was in a happy stage of her life during an interview with British Vogue, she confessed, "I don't know. The past few years have been pretty hard. I've been focusing on healing our family. It's slowly coming back, like the ice melting and the blood returning to my body."
"But I'm not there. I'm not there yet. But I hope to be. I'm planning on it. I do like being older. I feel much more comfortable in my forties than I did when I was younger," she added. "Maybe because… I don't know… maybe because my mom didn't live very long, so there's something about age that feels like a victory instead of a sadness for me."
