Sutherland’s Portrait of Winston Churchill

Graham Sutherland was commissioned to paint a full-length portrait of Sir Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom. The painting was presented to Churchill by both Houses of Parliament at a public ceremony in Westminster Hall on his 80th birthday on 30 November 1954. Sutherland received 1,000 guineas in compensation for the painting, a sum funded by donations from members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

About Sutherland’s Portrait of Winston Churchill in brief

Graham Sutherland was commissioned to paint a full-length portrait of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom. The painting was presented to Churchill by both Houses of Parliament at a public ceremony in Westminster Hall on his 80th birthday on 30 November 1954. Sutherland received 1,000 guineas in compensation for the painting, a sum funded by donations from members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. After its public presentation, the painting was taken to his country home at Chartwell but not put on display. After the death of Lady Spencer-Churchill in 1977, it came to light that she had the painting destroyed some months after it was delivered to relieve her husband’s frustration.

In 1978, it was reported that she destroyed the painting by breaking it into pieces and having them incinerated to prevent it from further distress to her husband. Many commentators were aghast at the destruction of the portrait, causing it to be hidden in a remote location in the middle of the night and burn in the cellars of a remote farm. The portrait was intended to hang in the Houses of. Parliament after Churchill’s death, but was instead given as a personal gift to Churchill himself, who took it back to Chartwell and refused to display it.

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