![]() ![]() Wendy redecorated the entire third floor to accommodate Churchill and his entourage that included secretaries, servants, French and English detectives. “Winston Churchill at La Pausa in the 1950s, copying a painting by Cezanne of a vase of tulips.”Ĭhurchill’s copy of Cezanne’s painting of a vase of tulips.Ĭhurchill’s copy of Ceznne’s painting, La Maison Rouge, near Aix-en-Provence. ![]() I am in fact having an artistic education with very agreeable tutors.’’ by my hosts who are both versed in modern paintings, and practice in the studio…Also they have a wonderful form of gramophone which plays continuously Mozart and other composers of merit, and anything else you like on a 10-fold discs. I am being taken through a course of Manet, Monet, Cezanne & Co. “I spend the days mostly in bed & get up for lunch and dinner. He had arrived January 17 for his first extended visit to La Pausa. “Churchill painting the veranda to the west of the west side of the villa among the olive trees.”Ĭhurchill painting among the olive trees shows the same painting in progress at a different stage of completion.Ĭhurchill wrote the following to Clementine January 30, 1956. “Wendy would often set up still life arrangements on rainy days for Sir Winston to tackle, and he painted 18 of them.” Reves gave Churchill a Monet painting of the Thames that has an impression of the House of Parliament. Churchill copied the two Cezanne paintings. Mary Lovell’s description of the setting: “Set among the olive groves and lavender fields in Haute Provence, La Pausa was the epitome of luxury and hedonism, and in the hands of Reves and his stunning blonde Texas mistress Wendy Russell (a former Vogue model) it quickly became a hub of Riviera society.” Reves and Wendy had an extensive art collection including Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Serenity enveloped Winston while at La Pausa. Winston Chjurchill, Sarah Churchill, Emery Reves at La Pausa. Celia later wrote, “Indeed, it was the place where Churchill as a guest spent months at a time for many years.” She was visiting La Pausa with her mother. During those grey and somber times in world history, the invitation to La Pausa was especially welcome.Ĭhurchill’s granddaughter, Celia Sandys, met Wendy when she was twelve years old in 1956. The sun and warmer climes always improved his disposition. ![]() It’s well documented that for years Winston had been afforded the opportunity to visit private villas along the Côte d’Azur. Much like the way in which Maxine Elliott doted on Winston, Wendy and Emery made his life while at La Pausa extraordinarily pleasant. Nancy Smith states that the beginning of 1956 found Churchill, “in a maudlin mood, surviving the British winter like a hibernatingīulldog.” So… well received indeed was an invitation from Reves to Churchill to come to La Pausa, “to enjoy a pleasant rest at La Pausa-a very pleasant rest because the staff of La Pausa included one of the great chefs of Europe.” He was also very pleased for the opportunity to meet the beautiful Wendy Russell. Churchill retired as Prime Minister in 1955, but remained a member of parliament until 1964.Īerial view of La Pausa from Google Earth in Paul Rafferty’s book. ![]() A major concern of his was the threat of atomic warfare. His health was not good due to the stresses of the last war that lead to his having a severe stroke in 1953. The proceeds from the purchase of the foreign-language rights of Churchill’s book, The Second World War, enabled Reves to purchase La Pausa from Coco Chanel.Ĭhurchill, once again, became Prime Minister in 1951. Emery Reves was Churchill’s American publisher and friend. Sunny days, and solitude-“spoiled and cosseted Winston in the course of four long visits between 1956-1958.”, is how David Coombs puts it. There, Churchill painted, relaxed, was pampered, wrote and edited part of his, History of the English Speaking Peoples. Noted by Nancy Smith, he made a visit in March, 1959 and Wendy remembers a short visit he made in the 1960s.Ĭhurchill gave his painting, View from La Pausa of Menton, to Emery and Wendy Reves. It’s said, thirteen months in total, beginning in January,1956, and, generally, to 1958. He had, of course, visited the villa when Coco Chanel was the owner, but it was when Emery Reves and Wendy Russell became the owners that he spent extended periods of time. “Pausaland”, Churchill’s fanciful word for villa La Pausa. They ask the guests I like and none I don’t.” “I have passed the time since I arrived three quarters in bed and come down to meals. ![]()
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