Destination: Smithsonian

Capturing Churchill

If we stare long enough into Winston Churchill's face, the soft, jowly visage of the man who literally saved the Western world from Nazi tyranny, is it possible to see courage and intellect personified?

Since World War II, thousands of artists have thought so, struggling to capture this modern-day hero on film and canvas, in stone and mixed media. From the vaults of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum, we have assembled a gallery of eight intriguing portraits.

"...There is nothing here but what you see," Churchill once said in his famous iron curtain speech. We will leave it to you to determine whether you can see more than mere features, but rather the resolute embodiment of victory itself.

National Portrait Gallery

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Helen Starkweather | READ MORE