Photographic Portrait. Churchill, Winston S.

Initialled by Churchill below the image "WSC" for his close friend Emery Reves, the full-length portrait shows Churchill at Reves's home in the South of France, Villa La Pausa, where he stayed many times and for long periods. His relationship with Reves was Churchill's most significant non-political and non-familial relationship. The photograph was acquired directly from the Reves family. Reves arranged the international publication of Churchill's books and articles across the continent, and in so doing was instrumental in promoting Churchill's pre-war international profile and magnifying his anti-appeasement crusade. Reves later recalled, "He was really in the political doghouse. Through my service he got on the front pages of the newspapers in twenty-five languages, with up to a fifteen, even twenty million circulation" (Gilbert, p. 8). Their collaboration provided vital impetus to Churchill's trajectory from the wilderness to prime minister, to unifying war-leader, and to statesman on the world stage. "Reves quickly became one of the giants in Churchill's life. Small of stature but large of mind, he made it possible for Churchill's writings, and most importantly his opinions, to become far more widely known than even Churchill expected. The spread of Churchill's influence, his ideas about the world and its destiny, gained enormously from the work that Reves did across three decades" (International Churchill Society website). Churchill and Reves's symbiosis greatly profited both men, but also did much to forward the cause that passionately engaged them both: the continued spread of democratic ideals in a post-totalitarian world. Martin Gilbert, ed., Winston Churchill and Emery Reves: Correspondence 1937-1964, 1997. Image size 231 x 229 mm; photograph showing Churchill in the road in front of Reves's home, dressed in Stetson, Loden coat and gloves, with a walking stick. With archival mount in frame with conservation-standard glazing. A little mottled and signature faded from sun exposure. In good condition.