It’s worth noting for the millionth time that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s divorce still hasn’t been completed. They are still working out the financial and custodial issues, and it’s been four and a half years since Angelina filed for divorce. Despite Brad’s efforts to slime Angelina for “causing the delays,” what I’ve heard for years now is that Brad has been the one slow-walking the financial aspect of their divorce. His finances are a mess compared to hers, and she’s already had to go to court once to force him to pay child support. So… Angelina sold off a big piece of art which was gifted to her by Brad while they were together. She gave it to Christie’s to auction off, and she got big money – more than the appraisal value – for it.
Angelina Jolie sold off a Winston Churchill painting that Brad Pitt bought her as a gift for $11.5 million on Monday. The work was gifted to Jolie by her estranged husband Pitt, who bought it for $2.95 million in 2011 from a New Orleans antique dealer, M.S. Rau, we previously revealed.
Reports on Monday said that the 1943 Churchill painting, “Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque,” sold for a record-breaking $11.5 million to a mystery Belgian bidder at Christie’s “Modern British Art Evening Sale” auction in London. The same bidder also bought two more Churchill works in the sale, the Art Newspaper reported. The painting — which shattered its estimate of $3.4 million — was sold via the Jolie Family Collection. Reps have not commented on why the movie star was selling off the gift from her ex. Jolie and Pitt’s divorce has been dragging on for years, ever since they announced their split in 2016.
Seems art lover Pitt has a good eye: The previous record for a Churchill painting was reportedly around $2.5 million. Sources previously told us that Pitt’s role in Quentin Tarantino’s World War II drama, “Inglourious Basterds,” helped inspire his interest in the Churchill work. He and Jolie also reportedly once visited the Churchill War Rooms together in the UK for a private tour.
Bill Rau of M.S. Rau told Page Six of the record-breaking Monday sale: “When we sold the ‘Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque’ by Winston Churchill, it was valued at just under $3 million, a fair price for such a historic work. The fact that it sold at auction for [$11.5 million] just goes to show you that important pieces will continue to be coveted and fetch top dollar. The painting has had an unprecedented journey, from being gifted to a US President [Churchill gave it to Franklin D. Roosevelt], to being hidden away in a closet for nearly half a century, to being owned by the most famous couple in Hollywood. I’m thrilled that M.S. Rau was able to bring this amazing piece back into the spotlight.”
Before Pitt bought it, the painting was passed from FDR to his son, who sold it in 1950 to an art collector in Nebraska. It was later sold to a movie producer, Norman G. Hickman, who was involved in a 1964 Churchill-themed film, “The Finest Hours.” The painting was then left to Hickman’s relatives after he died, and wound up in a closet for 15 years until it was sold by Rau.
I’m including a photo of the painting below. While I understand why Winston Churchill’s name and the provenance of the painting adds to its value, it’s also just a really pretty painting with nice colors. Sounds like a great investment piece too – it certainly was for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. I assume that Angelina sold it with Brad’s explicit blessing. And perhaps that money will help with the child support.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red, Backgrid.
Reminds me of paint-by-numbers we did as kids.
Yeah, it’s been said that Churchill wasn’t a great artist. His painting fetch a lot of money because many people have a Churchill fetish. I’m guessing Brad was one of them. Another reason why Brad is not a great guy.
I was really confused thinking this was a painting OF Churchill. Anyway good for them. Must be nice to have 3 million quadruple in 10 years doing nothing but hanging on the wall.
Don’t hate me, but I miss them.
Dude I get it. They really were an iconic couple. Maybe even the last time we had a legit huge ‘movie star couple’
it’s actually what he did with Marion Cotillard that caused the plane flight fight (plus alcohol obv…).
Allegedly got Marion pregnant while filming that spy movie (her partner never was there around the months baby was conceived). So basically Jolie, after the struggle of the hysterectomy etc Pitt impregnates Cotillard & she is literally raising Brad’s baby as hers & the French partner of hers
Jolie can do so much better but yea, it was such a classic old Hollywood 2 gorgeous mega movie star coupling!
Lol, you are making up stories, worst than tabloids! BP was never involved with Marion. Angie filed for divorce because of the plane incident, BP hit one of his kids.
I think we all miss them but its probably for the best. Angie has been looking more healthy and radiant and I think this marriage needed to end. I don’t think they should have gotten married. They should have kept things the way they were.
If a home was worth $5M, and someone bought it for $15M…I’d think it was Trump doing more money laundering. Overpaying by that much is really suspicious.
Maybe they thought the story behind it added to the value.
My thought was that the provenance now including “gift from Brad Pitt to Angelina Jolie” adds a lot of value to an otherwise unremarkable amateurish effort by Churchill.
Yes, that’s probably true. And if they were trying to make a collection (they bought 3 Churchills I think), they probably REALLY wanted it.
I think art and real estate are where a lot of dingy money gets washed.
Art is notoriously used for money laundering. Its value is what somebody will pay for it and no one can question it.
It depends.
A lot of rich people have gotten much richer in the past few years, and if someone out there is a serious collector, they might legitimately spend that. Or if there were bidding wars, it can drive the price up. Plus having the movie star history added to it as well.
Why are Brad’s finances a mess? Do these people not listen to financial advisors? How do you make so much money only to have your finances labeled “a mess”?
My uneducated guess would be that his finances are intentionally messy with blessings from financial advisors.
You can have financial advisors, but not everyone listens to them. At the end of the day, it isn’t the advisors money to spend.
As a great philosopher and financial expert of the last century once proclaimed, “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems.”
His finances are a mess because he spends so much money. Look at the properties her owns. He has a home in Santa Barbra, The compound in Los Feliz which is made of 5 different homes. Brad is also constantly renovating these homes. The Chateau in France set them back a lot but I think it was Brad overseeing and deciding how the chateau would look. He buys art left and right. Angie seems like she is more responsible with her money. She has things in thirds. When she was single she had a place in New York and her home in England. Angie seems to plan and knew she wanted to travel and eventually not work as much.
She needs money!
Yeah that’s been clear for a few years. She’s doing a Marvel movie. I looooove those movies, and in love with Wandavision but pretty sure Angelina doesnt. She’s came on board because they are dishing the biggest checks
Does she need his blessing to sell something that was a gift?
She does not. A gift is only a gift when freely given. If she needed cash and it was a gift from Brad it makes sense that she’d sell it.
Nope, no permission needed. When I split with my ex I offloaded all the jewelry he and given me at a pawnshop. That’s when I found out the stones on what he had claimed was a family heirloom were completely fake, too, LOL.
I really love MS Rau. I’m glad to see they are getting some coverage. They have the most amazing treasures and I always recommend anyone who is visiting to stop there.
To walk through their gallery/store in New Orleans and be able to freely gaze at their important works and pieces from history is a reminder that you are among things that a very special.
Before the virus I was supposed to bring them an Art Deco Van cleef and arpel 6 carat black opal of mine to be appraised and assessed for possible sale/auction.
It really would’ve been an honor to have them represent us. However the hoarder in me has decided I love it too much to sell, so I believe I will keep it a while longer to enjoy. (Also I’m terrified of having sellers remorse. Lol)
I visited when I was last in NOLA and loved being able to see such amazing artifacts! I was especially jealous of Tsar Alexander’s wardrobe and took a photo of myself in the mirror. (Was a big Anastasia fanatic as a kid, lol).
I can see the interest in Churchill items. I have read a number of books about Churchill and WWII. The virtual tour of Blenheim Palace where generations of Churchills lived is really something.
How can BP or AJ be having money issues?
Weeping Jayzus, what? They are both multi-millionaires.
An everyday day person working and living from one week to the next often seems to be smarter about money vs. celebs. SMH
In the pictures, I want the dark green dress that Z is wearing. I would not look as pretty in it but the fabric seems to flow…nice.
Btw, BP has been proven to be a real jerk in the past 5 years.
I think a lot of their money is tied up in property that they haven’t sold. Their place in France is worth a good deal of money. Angie went a good while without working when they first split and Brad hates to pay for the kids expenses. He gave her a loan that she paid back and he tried to claim that it was child support.
I read neither wants to sell the property in France but want to keep it as an inheritance and family property for their kids.
Keeping a full staff of up to 24 hour nannies, body guards, house keepers, gardeners, drivers, etc can be a monthly payroll of tens if not hundreds of thousands. Add in lawyers, private school tuitions, activities, etc and I wouldn’t be surprised if monthly expenses were close to a quarter million.
Remember, managers agents etc get their 10% off the gross.
I’d also assume that in order to adequately value and then liquidate their assets for settlement, some may need to be sold.
I bet expenses are even more than that – especially with the never ending divorce, and you know those lawyers are getting high billing rates.
The taxes, insurance, and maintenance on that estate are probably $100k/month on their own.
Since Churchill played such a huge role leading Britain during WWII we should not be surprised that a painting he created appreciated and sold for such a high price. I think she should unload any jewelry gifted to her next!
Definitely sell the jewellery next. I just said that to the hubby. Plus, it would be a nice pointed shot off the bow! Finish this divorce Jackson.
Those asking how Angie/Brad could be having money issues: it’s a matter of liquidity. You can have all this net worth, but if you don’t have enough free cash, you sell something. It’s not money troubles; it’s converting money from art to cash. And making a profit.
Thank You. I think this is simply getting rid of his things but also getting some readily cash in her pocket. Plus w/ art, she had someone come and appraise it and they prob told her now was the time to sell where she could make the most. Lol. They were right. It was a smart investment, she’s getting the benefits for now. It’s like having $$ on wall street and after 10 years you sell and get the profits. Very smart. Rich people do this all the time.
She has a mortgage on her current house in LA, the $25 million one, if I’m not mistaken.
I don’t think she needs money that much. But I think Churchill is somewhat getting cancelled in the UK for being racist. They are digging up dirt on him I think. I think that fits better with why Angelina is getting rid of this painting.
How do we go about getting the BRF cancelled for their racist behavior?
LOL let’s wait until next monday after the explosive interview and see if they’re cancelled LOL
I don’t love that she’s the sort of person who would want a Winston Churchill artifact as a gift. He was a bigoted imperialist and as a mother of non-white children, she ought to know better.
We don’t know she actually wanted it. Just that he gave it. My husband gives me stuff I’d rather not have.
The story says that the then-husband gifted her this particular artwork after filming war movies. Shouldn’t the focus be on why he as a father of non-white children didn’t know better? Especially after she has sold off the artwork. It’s clear she doesn’t want to keep it.
I would say they are both wrong for this. Him for buying it. Her for keeping it for years, even after they split up. Same with that Daniel Pearl movie. He cast a white woman to play a WOC, she took the role and stupidly threw on a curly wig and tan in what is for all intents brown face. They have both been problematic and repeatedly so.
She was wrong to do that movie even if Marianne wanted her for the role, but Brad bought the artwork so his judgement should come into question here, not hers. He selected it and he is also the parent of non-white children. She is the one who got rid of it. No need to praise her, but no need to blame her for it either, when the person who got it is named right there in the article. There is also a Churchill bust in the WH which no one has managed to get rid of. It gets shuffled around constantly depending on who is in the Oval office, but in the WH the symbol of bigoted imperialism still remains.
Right? Not a good look. And lol at “she probably didn’t want it”. Because of course Saint Angie can do no wrong on this website
Yes, the fact that AG portrayed a WOC does not bode well for her. This isn’t too far from the past, and yes, CB love AG without excuses. I think she’s ok, not great, not that I give her that much thought. Though she seems to have grown up a little. She held a grudge against her father for the fact that he cheated on her mother for decades. That was between her parents, and for her to hold a grudge was childish. Now, I could understand if he was a vile parent, but he was just a shit husband.
I think that’s exactly why she’s selling it. And we didnt know all these things about WC
So these two are bad with money is what I’m getting from this. No one needs to live in 15 million dollar mansions. Eat the rich.
A lot of their money is tied up in property and the divorce hasn’t been finalized so they can’t just sell the properties for cash because who gets what and what percentage. Also Angie didn’t work for a long stretch of time after they separated.
Angie still doesn’t work (movies wise) and it’s been about 5 years since she left him. I mean she does one movie every 3 or 4 years. That’s why her $$ situation is fine. She’s not just taking any movie for cash. I actually think she’s smart w/ $$. She actually gives 1/3 of her $$ away. She just give a $1mil to No Kid Hungry and $250 thousand to BLM charities. You don’t give if you don’t have it to give.
Him on the other hand, it’s suspicious he doesn’t want to give child support even tho he wants the public to believe he wants 50-50 custody. Does he have it to give?
Jesus. How have two adults not completed the financial end of a divorce in five years? Didn’t they have a bifurcation? I hope to God that all that’s pending is the child custody stuff because 5 years to settle finances is just stupidity.
Exactly Julie. These are two adults and it’s taken them five years to iron this out. I get the feeling that they’re both petty as fuck.
@ Gaboo, yup!! She has a track record for being petty with her dad, now she has the power over BP. Now, he is no Prince Charming, but she could work if she wanted to. The kids are 12-19 years old, one is off at college.
Her mansion is actually worth $25 million and she had a mortgage on it at the time of purchase, after having to borrow 8 million from Pitt to cover some costs of the house. There seems to be an exodus from CA – all the celebs seem to be selling up. Not too sure how easily she’ll be able to offload that property eventually. It’s got historical value though; one previous owner was Cecil B DeMille.
That is a massive profit, wow! Great return!
Cannot believe they’re still not divorced. Kids will be all 18+ when it’s finalised. They should never have gotten married; maybe they’d still be together.
Churchill is constantly lionised but when I see his name I always think of the 1943 Bengal famine. Controversial figure: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29701767
I’ve been under the opinion for awhile that she’s dragging out child custody until all the kids are old enough to choose.
That’s a nice profit for a pretty painting. She should sell some of the jewelry next. I never did share Brad’s taste.
Apparently Brad is the one who drags out their divorce. However, I think as well that Angelina is more than okay with it because she wants her kids to be able to choose for themselves.
Okay so Pitts hens roll in to say she’s broke, petty, dragging out a custody battle, or is the devil.
A woman who owns a vineyard, half a 50 million dollar estate and part owner of a wine business in France.
Owns a 25 million dollar home in LA. Two others in Africa and Cambodia.
Is the face of a perfume house in Paris. An A list movie star who is in the Disney and Marvel money tree IS not broke.
Maybe she wanted to sell Churchill’s art because of the recent talk about his political views. It is coincidental that she wanted it gone soon after.
Two, this custody battle with a man who is clearly having issues with lots of things is understandable. Hopefully he’s gotten help.
His lawyers who responds to her every move via depositions sound like the writers from US Weekly. Very opposite of hers. That in itself completes my opinion of him.
Any man who gives his ex wife a loan with interest to help house his children is sad. Which no thought he was half responsible for.
Then he used that and so called therapy bills and security, out of all things, as a reason he hasn’t paid child support. Lol
Deadbeat period
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Lol. Yeah, everytime they say something, it gets refuted. Everytime. They’re just jealous Angie living her best life w/o BP. Selling the painting is showing everyone she is getting rid of his stuff and cleaning house away from him. Plus she made history and got 3x more profit for the artwork. That’s Angie’s greatness right now.
Her property in Cambodia is through her foundation though, isn’t it? She doesn’t personally own it. Also pretty sure her African one is through the Shiloh foundation.
I think her home in Cambodia is hers.
Looks like the gates were left open on the psychiatric ward at femalefirst and JustJared for their two vile jolie hater posters to come here and spew hate towards Angelina Jolie.
Some things never change it’s like they have Angelina Jolie’s name on alert any news about her they run out from their psych wards and run trolling around spewing hate towards her character. It’s 2021 get a life and move on and time to put those Angelina Jolie Voodoo dolls down. Enough of this.
It shows how much Angelina Jolie is still under their skins living rent free.
As for Angelina Jolie putting up her own property for auction and begrudging her for getting whatever Price that she got is beyond pathetic.
It doesn’t matter if she is rich or poor or in need of any money , the bottomline is she is a single mother who is supporting her 6 children on her own, and she has a deadbeat ex husband and ex father of their 6 children who rather spend money on hiring escorts and transporting them to his French house to have dirty weekends , or take group of addict friends on veach holidays in an pandemic, And not forgetting buying new BMW motorbikes and go do a photo op at a black life matters petitions. Riding in his brand new $200K motor bike, instead of him walk besides them.
I’d be more concerned on his spending his money on his selfish life than, giving Angelina some financial support for looking after 6 children on her own for past 5 years, whilst he plays Fabio on Tinder..
What Angelina does with her money from a sale of a painting is no ones concern than hers. But what is obvious is that Brad Pitt had refused to foot any financial help for the 6 kids he adopted and had biologically .