Angelina Jolie is selling at auction for millions of dollars the painting of Winston Churchill, which was bought for her by Brad Pitt as a gift, say sources for Page Six. But sources have not said why Jolie is looking to sell the expensive gift.
Pitt, 57, and Jolie, 45, are still embroiled in an endless divorce battle after announcing their separation in 2016.
Churchill's 1943 painting was last purchased by New Orleans antique dealer MS Rau in 2011, for $ 2.95 million from an unnamed buyer, and ended up in the Jolie family collection. Sources tell Page Six that the buyer at the time was passionate art collector Brad Pitt, who donated it to Jolie.
Sources further said that Pitt's role in Quentin Tarantino's World War II drama, (2019) "Inglourious Basterds", helped inspire his interest in Churchill's work. The Hollywood couple also reportedly once visited Churchill's War Rooms in the UK together on a private tour.
The painting, "Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque," was created by Churchill for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and is estimated to fetch up to $ 3.4 million, according to Christie's.
Before Pitt bought it, the painting was transferred from Roosevelt to his son Elliott, who sold it in 1950 to an art collector in Nebraska. It was later sold to a film producer, Norman G. Hickman. The painting was then left to Hickman's relatives after he died and remained in a closet for 15 years until it was sold by Rau.
