An original press photograph of Winston S. Churchill with former French Prime Minister Léon Blum at Chartwell on 10 May 1939, four months before the Second World War and one year to the day before Churchill became Britain's wartime Prime Minister and the Nazis invaded the Low Counties and France.
New York City: ACME NEWSPICTURES Inc., 10 May 1939. Photograph. This original press photograph captures Winston S. Churchill and former French Prime Minister Léon Blum at Chartwell on 10 May 1939, four months before the Second World War and one year to the day before Churchill became Britain’s wartime Prime Minister and the Nazis invaded the Low Countries and France. The composition of the image is delightful, indicating genuine camaraderie between the two and belying the seriousness of the impending war, the two men standing in the doorway of Chartwell, facing one another, each with a genuinely amused look, Churchill's tie and collar a bit loose.
The gelatin silver print on heavy matte photo paper measures 7.5 x 9.5 in (17 x 24.1 cm). Condition is very good. The paper is clean, crisp, and free of scratches, with some minor edge wear. The verso provides several ink stamps and a sticker attesting to original press provenance, as well as the original typed caption. The original blue ink stamp is that of "ACME NEWSPICTURES Inc.". This stamp is over-stamped by the purple "COPYRIGHT" ink stamp of "PLANET NEWS Ltd.". "MAY 1939" is stamped in red. Two stickers finally attributing the photograph to the agency "Photofest" are also affixed to the verso, to the left of the original typed caption, which is titled "M. BLUM VISITS MR. CHURCHILL AT WESTERHAM." The caption reads in full: "M. Leon, Blum, the French Socialist leader who is visiting London to confer with prominent people on the question of conscription, visited Mr. Winston Churchill at his country home at Westerham, Kent, where he was entertained to lunch. PHOTO SHOWS: Mr. Winston Churchill (right) with M. Blum at Westerham. CALC May 10th 1939 PN.g."
Churchill had spent much of the 1930s warning about the dangers of a rising Nazi Germany, vigorously advocating rearmament and collective security and often at odds with both his party leadership and prevailing public sentiment. Blum was among an eclectic coterie of officials, dignitaries, and subject matter experts, both British and foreign, invited to Chartwell to discuss German strength and plans, as well as British vulnerabilities. Such visitors “provided Churchill with facts, figures, arguments and insights, sometimes endangering their careers by doing so, helping him to build up a comprehensive picture of the Nazi threat, and the British Government’s inadequate response to it.” (Roberts, Walking With Destiny, pp.365-66)
Léon Blum (1872-1950), did not share Churchill’s politics, but certainly shared his opposition to fascism. When this photograph was taken in 1939 Blum had already briefly served twice as French Prime Minister – France’s first socialist and first Jew to hold the post. Churchill and Blum visited one another several times in the 1930s; this was their last visit before the outbreak of WWII. Paul Maze, an artistic mentor to Churchill and regular visitor to Chartwell, wrote of this visit in his diary, “Conversation rendered difficult by Clemmie’s constant interference in the conversation & her desire to translate to show up her French (which is very good). Very excellent lunch, then a walk about the garden when a group of photographers took snapshots.” (Gilbert, Documents XIII, 1496)
Less than four months later, Nazi Germany began its invasion of France and the Low Countries. As a Jew, a socialist, an opponent of fascism, and a former French premier, Blum was clearly in danger, but nonetheless made no effort to flee, instead remaining as one of the so-called Vichy 80, the group of politicians who voted against the establishment of the Vichy regime. He was arrested in September, and brought to trial in February 1942. The defense reportedly so discomfited the Vichy regime and irritated the Germans that hearings were suspended. Blum would survive Buchenwald and be freed by Allied troops in May 1945. Blum would subsequently help negotiate a postwar reconstruction loan from the U.S. and form a brief caretaker government pending the election of the first President of the Fourth Republic. Item #008943
Price: $400.00