CHURCHILL AND WIFE ARRIVE - An original 5 January 1953 press photograph of British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and his wife, Clementine, on the gangway of the Queen Mary, disembarking in New York after a transatlantic voyage whose purpose included meeting with U.S. President-Elect Dwight Eisenhower, with whom Churchill dined hours after this image was captured.
New York: United Press Photo, published by the Brooklyn Eagle, 5 January 1953. Photograph. This is an original press photograph of British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and his wife, Clementine, disembarking from the Queen Mary in New York City on 5 January 1953, after a transatlantic voyage to visit America, during which Churchill conferred at length with both President Truman, in the final days of his time in office, and President-Elect Dwight Eisenhower, who would be sworn in on 20 January 1953. The composition is excellent, Winston and Clementine featured in full length, smiling and descending the gangway, Winston in a navy peacoat and cap with a cigar in his mouth, gloves and cane in his left hand, his right hand saluting the two New York City policeman flanking the foot of the gangway.
The gelatin silver print on glossy photo paper measures 9 x 7.125 inches. Condition is excellent, the image clean and crisp with sharp contrast, the paper with only the most trivial superficial scuffs and trivial hints of wear to the blank white margin corners. The verso is rich in provenance, with an original copyright ink stamp partly obscured by the “RECEIVED” ink stamp of the Brooklyn Eagle dated “JAN 6 1953” and an original printed caption titled “CHURCHILL AND WIFE ARRIVE” below the designation 1016950…. NEW YORK BUREAU”. The caption reads in full NEW YORK: Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife leave the liner Queen Mary, Jan. 5, following a press conference aboard the ship. Two of New York’s policeman stand guard at the foot of the gangway. Churchill, who is in the United States on a “holiday” visit, will stay at the home of his old friend Bernard Baruch. While here he will visit President-Elect Dwight Eisenhower and President Truman. CREDIT (UNITED PRESS PHOTO) 1/5/53 (RP)”. The Brooklyn Eagle, in whose archives this photo resided, published continuously for 114 years before ceasing publication on January 29, 1955, due to a prolonged strike. This photograph later belonged to the Photofest agency, evidenced by their sticker on the verso. The photograph is protected within a clear, removable, rigid sleeve.
"At 8:15 on the morning of January 5 The Queen Mary docked in New York. 'Pandemonium let loose,'" noted Churchill's Private Secretary and unauthorized chronicler of 10 Downing Street, Sir John "Jock" Colville. "Mr. Baruch, high dignitaries, low officials, Embassy people, pressmen swarmed on board." After a press conference, "From the Queen Mary, Churchill and his wife went to Bernard Baruch's apartment, where Churchill had stayed the year before. At five o'clock that afternoon General Eisenhower arrived. There were still fifteen days to go before he became President... Churchill and Eisenhower spent two hours alone together, before being the guests at a small dinner party given for them by Baruch, in his apartment." Colville was present, and noted the evening's conversation in his diary:
"Winston said that a protoplasm was sexless. Then it divided into two sexes which, in due course, united again in a different way to their common benefit and gratification. This should also be the story of England and America. Ike talked about Cleopatra's Needle (how Egyptians raised it), the charm of the Queen, the intelligence of the Duke of Edinburgh, and a few war-time indiscretions. After dinner I listened to the PM and the President-elect talking: Winston made one or two profound observations. For instance, 'I think you and I are agreed that it is not only important to discover the truth but to know how to present the truth'; and (apropos of the recent treason trials in Czechoslovakia) 'That they should think it good propaganda is what shows the absolutely unbridgeable gulf between us.'"
To an after-dinner plea by his good friend and host, Bernard Baruch, for an acceleration of the process of European unity, Churchill commented: 'It may be better to bear an agonising period of unsatisfactory time. You may kill yourself in getting strong enough.'" Item #009020
Price: $375.00