A striking mixed-media portrait of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill is set to go under the hammer at Wotton Auction Rooms this Wednesday.
The artwork, created by an unknown artist, reimagines Graham Sutherland’s infamous 1954 portrait and features Churchill standing dominantly above symbolic figures representing the British public.
Toby Lennox-Hilton, art specialist at Wotton Auction Rooms, highlighted the unusual nature of the piece: “This curious portrait of Churchill may be the unknown artist’s rendition of the infamous portrait by Graham Sutherland that Churchill loathed so much he had destroyed. Here, the former Prime Minister towers over the people below like the Colossus of Rhodes protecting his nation.”
Sutherland’s original portrait was commissioned in 1954 by Members of Parliament as an 80th birthday gift for Churchill. However, the Prime Minister expressed strong dislike for the work, which depicted him as an aging and weary figure. The painting was never publicly displayed, and in 2015 biographer Sonia Purnell uncovered conclusive evidence that the portrait had been secretly burnt on the orders of Churchill’s wife, Clementine.
The upcoming auction offers collectors and admirers of Churchillian history a rare opportunity to acquire a unique interpretation of one of the most controversial portraits in British political art.
