The ''Portrait of Winston Churchill'' was a painting by English artist

Graham Sutherland Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmakin ...

that depicted the British prime minister Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, created in 1954. It was disliked by Churchill and within a year it was destroyed. In 1954, Sutherland was commissioned to paint a full-length portrait of Prime Minister Sir

. Sutherland received 1,000

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

in compensation for the painting, a sum funded by donations from members of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

and

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. The painting was presented to Churchill by both

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

at a public ceremony in

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

on his 80th birthday on 30 November 1954. Finding the depiction deeply unflattering, Churchill disliked the portrait intensely. After its public presentation, the painting was taken to his country home at

Chartwell Chartwell is a English country house, country house near Westerham, Kent, in South East England. For over forty years, it was the home of Sir Winston Churchill. He bought the property in September 1922 and lived there until shortly before his ...

but not displayed. For a long time it was assumed that it was destroyed by Lady Spencer-Churchill; however, in the course of research for a biography of Churchill, audio recordings were cited that attribute the destruction to Grace Hamblin, Churchill's private secretary. According to this, the painting was taken by her and her brother to a secluded house and burned. Lady Spencer-Churchill learned of the deed the next morning and approved.

Background

By the time the portrait had been commissioned, Churchill was an elder statesman nearing the end of his second period as prime minister. Sutherland had gained a reputation as a

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

painter through some recent successful portraits, such as

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

in 1949. He was drawn to depicting subjects as they truly were without embellishment; some sitters considered his disinclination to flattery as a form of cruelty or disparagement to his subjects. Sutherland and Churchill had different hopes for the painting. Churchill had wanted to direct the composition towards a fictionalised scene but Sutherland had insisted upon a realistic portrayal, one described by

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama ( ; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian and television presenter. He specialises in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a professor of history and art history at Columbia Uni ...

as "No bulldog, no baby face. Just an obituary in paint". Churchill also wished to be depicted in his robes as a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

, but the commission specified that he should be shown in his usual parliamentary dress: a black coat, with

waistcoat A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit) or vest ( US and Canada) is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wea ...

and striped trousers, and a spotted

bow tie The bow tie or dicky bow is a type of neckwear, distinguishable from a necktie because it does not drape down the shirt placket, but is tied just underneath a winged collar. A modern bow tie is tied using a common shoelace knot, which is also ...

Preparation

Sutherland made preparatory charcoal sketches of Churchill at a handful of sittings at

from August 1954, concentrating on Churchill's hands and face. After completing these sketches, he made some oil studies of his subject. Additionally, Sutherland worked from photographs by

Elsbeth Juda Elsbeth Ruth Juda (née Goldstein) and known professionally as Jay (2 May 1911 – 5 July 2014), was a British photographer most notable for her pioneering fashion photographs and work as associate editor and photographer for ''International Tex ...

. He brought his preliminary materials to his studio to create the final work on a large square canvas, the shape chosen to symbolize Churchill's solidity and endurance, embodied in a remark that Churchill made, "I am a rock". The pose, with Churchill grasping the arms of his chair, recalls the statue of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

at the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Churchill is shown scowling, slightly slumped forward, surrounded by wintry grey, brown and black tones. Sutherland was reluctant to discuss the work in progress with Churchill and showed the subject few of his working materials. Lady Spencer-Churchill thought it was a good resemblance – "really quite alarmingly like him" – but also said it made him look too cross, while recognising that it was a familiar expression. Churchill's son Randolph thought the portrait made him look "disenchanted".

Reception

Lady Spencer-Churchill viewed the completed portrait on 20 November 1954 and took a photograph back to her husband. It was his first view of the work and he was deeply upset. He described it to Lord Moran as "filthy" and "malignant", and complained that it made him "look like a down-and-out drunk who has been picked out of the gutter in the Strand." Churchill also declared, "It makes me look as if I were straining a stool" (i.e. positioned on a toilet seat). With ten days remaining, he sent a note to Sutherland stating that "the painting, however masterly in execution, is not suitable" and declared that the ceremony would go ahead without it. In response, Sutherland maintained that he painted the Prime Minister as he truly saw him and that the depiction was an honest and realistic representation.

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP Charles Doughty persuaded Churchill that the presentation had to go ahead to avoid offending the members of Parliament who financed it. The presentation ceremony at

was recorded by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. In his acceptance speech, Churchill remarked on the unprecedented honour shown to him and described the painting (in a remark often considered a backhanded compliment) as "a remarkable example of modern art", combining "force and candour". Other reactions were mixed; some critics praised the strength of its likeness, but others condemned it as a disgrace. While

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his t ...

(a Labour MP and one of Churchill's critics) called it "a beautiful work", Lord Hailsham (a Conservative colleague and friend) called it "disgusting". The painting was intended to hang in the Houses of Parliament after Churchill's death, but it was instead given as a personal gift to Churchill himself, who took it back to

and refused to display it. Requests to borrow the painting for exhibitions of Sutherland's work were rejected. In 1978, it was reported that Lady Spencer-Churchill had destroyed the painting within a year of its arrival at

, by breaking it into pieces and having them incinerated to prevent it from causing further distress to her husband. Lady Spencer-Churchill had previously destroyed earlier portraits of her husband that she disliked, including sketches by

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

and

Paul Maze Paul Lucien Maze (21 May 1887 – 17 September 1979) was an Anglo-French painter. He is often known as “The last of the Post Impressionists" and was one of the great artists of his generation. His mediums included oils, watercolours and pastel ...

. She had hidden the Sutherland portrait in the cellars at Chartwell and employed her private secretary Grace Hamblin and Hamblin's brother to remove it in the middle of the night and burn it in a remote location. Many commentators were aghast at the destruction of the work of art, and Sutherland condemned it as an act of vandalism; others upheld the Churchills' right to dispose of their property as they saw fit. Some preparatory sketches for Sutherland's painting are held by the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

. It is thought that a copy of the portrait is held at the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in the St James's area of London, England. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and elect ...

, also in London, although it is not on display. The Beaverbrook Art Gallery also has some of the studies Sutherland did in preparation for the portrait in its collection. In April 2024 one of Sutherland's studies for the portrait was put on display at

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace ( ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough. Originally called Blenheim Castle, it has been known as Blenheim Palace since the 19th century. One of England's larg ...

, before a planned auction in June expected to reach £500,000 to £800,000.

Cultural references

Within the events of the 2016 Netflix series ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

'', the ninth episode of the first season, entitled "Assassins", dramatises the creation, unveiling, and destruction of the portrait. Sutherland is portrayed by

Stephen Dillane Stephen John Dillane (; born 27 March 1957) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film ''The Hours (film), The Hours'', Stannis Baratheon in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2015) and T ...

. Although historical evidence suggests that Churchill's secretaries were the ones who actually destroyed the painting, the episode depicts Lady Spencer-Churchill watching it burn on the grounds of Chartwell House. The episode won

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his John Lithgow filmography, diverse work on stage and screen. He has rece ...

, who played Churchill, a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series is an award presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or ...

Footnotes

References

Sources

Gallery of Lost Art

Winston Churchill, Graham Sutherland (1954), Portrait of the week, No 82
''The Guardian'', 3 November 2001
The Secret Churchill Caper That Netflix’s The Crown Didn’t Show
''Vanity Fair'', 7 November 2016
Oil sketch of Winston Churchill, by Graham Sutherland
National Portrait Gallery
Pencil sketch of Winston Churchill, by Graham Sutherland
National Portrait Gallery
BBC Radio 4: Churchill Portrait Destroyed
winstonchurchill.org
''Byron, Sully, and the Power of Portraiture''
John Clubbe, pp. 6–7
''Playing Darts With a Rembrandt: Public and Private Rights in Cultural Treasures''
Joseph L. Sax, pp. 37–42
''Changing Perceptions: Milestones in 20th-Century British Portraiture''
Elizabeth Cayzer. pp. 52–57
''The Spirit of Place: Nine Neo-Romantic Artists and Their Times''
Malcolm Yorke, pp. 141–142 {{DEFAULTSORT:Portrait of Winston Churchill 1954 paintings Lost paintings Works by Graham Sutherland English paintings Cultural depictions of Winston Churchill Churchill Painting controversies