Portrait of Winston Churchill was an oil-on-canvas portrait of the British prime minister painted by Graham Sutherland in 1954. Churchill loathed the finished work, reportedly denouncing it as filthy and malignant, and it was burned within a year on the instructions of his household staff, with his wife Clementine approving the destruction the following morning. The canvas itself no longer exists, though several of Sutherland's preparatory studies survive, including one that sold at auction in 2024 for 660,000 pounds.
Facts
Year Created Commissioned ByHouses of Parliament (gift funded by cross-party donations) 1 Partially Attested
LocationDestroyed, preparatory sketches held at the National Portrait Gallery, London 1 the finished portrait was destroyed in 1955, only preparatory sketches survive, at the National Portrait Gallery Medium
Medium (category) In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Portrait of Winston Churchill (Sutherland)
Lead section, date field
created in 1954
Lead section, medium field
oil on canvas
Commission section
the painting was presented to Churchill by both Houses of Parliament
Aftermath section, surviving material field
Some preparatory sketches for Sutherland's painting are held by the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Genre reference
Portrait of Winston Churchill was an oil-on-canvas portrait of the British prime minister painted by Graham Sutherland in 1954.
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