Artist. Born in Streatham in South London, he was educated at Epsom College, then trained as an engineer before he changed careers and went to study at Goldsmith's College School of Art, which he left in 1926 to teach engraving at the Chelsea College of Art. He had begun to paint in 1925, being influenced by Samuel Palmer and by the landscapes of Wales, which he first visited in 1931 and where he returned almost every year for the rest of his life. From 1940 to 1945, he served as an official war artist. In 1944, he painted a Crucifixion for St. Matthew's Church, in Northampton; and, in 1952, he began work on the tapestry of Christ in Glory, which was unveiled in 1962 at the new Cathedral in Coventry. His first portrait, of W. Somerset Maugham, was completed in 1949 and now hangs in the Tate Gallery. Two years later, this was followed by one of Lord Beaverbrook; and, in 1954, he was commissioned by the Houses of Parliament to paint Sir Winston Churchill, in honour of the Prime Minister's eightieth birthday. At the presentation, Churchill described the painting as "a remarkable example of modern art"; but, in private, he hated the picture, and said, "It makes me look half-witted, which I ain't." After Lady Churchill's death in 1977, it was revealed that she had burned the canvas; quite illegally, as the painting was the property of the nation. In 1960, Graham Sutherland was awarded the Order of Merit. He divided his last years between Kent, where he had rented the White House in Trottiscliffe (pronounced Trosley) from 1937 and had purchased it after the War, and the South of France, where, in 1955, he had bought a villa in the hills overlooking Menton. He died at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.
Artist. Born in Streatham in South London, he was educated at Epsom College, then trained as an engineer before he changed careers and went to study at Goldsmith's College School of Art, which he left in 1926 to teach engraving at the Chelsea College of Art. He had begun to paint in 1925, being influenced by Samuel Palmer and by the landscapes of Wales, which he first visited in 1931 and where he returned almost every year for the rest of his life. From 1940 to 1945, he served as an official war artist. In 1944, he painted a Crucifixion for St. Matthew's Church, in Northampton; and, in 1952, he began work on the tapestry of Christ in Glory, which was unveiled in 1962 at the new Cathedral in Coventry. His first portrait, of W. Somerset Maugham, was completed in 1949 and now hangs in the Tate Gallery. Two years later, this was followed by one of Lord Beaverbrook; and, in 1954, he was commissioned by the Houses of Parliament to paint Sir Winston Churchill, in honour of the Prime Minister's eightieth birthday. At the presentation, Churchill described the painting as "a remarkable example of modern art"; but, in private, he hated the picture, and said, "It makes me look half-witted, which I ain't." After Lady Churchill's death in 1977, it was revealed that she had burned the canvas; quite illegally, as the painting was the property of the nation. In 1960, Graham Sutherland was awarded the Order of Merit. He divided his last years between Kent, where he had rented the White House in Trottiscliffe (pronounced Trosley) from 1937 and had purchased it after the War, and the South of France, where, in 1955, he had bought a villa in the hills overlooking Menton. He died at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.
Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine
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