Bloomberg values Churchill’s portrait sketch at Sotheby’s at $1 million – Kommersant
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A sketch of a portrait of Winston Churchill, drawn by artist Graham Sutherland, is up for auction at Sotheby’s, writes Bloomberg. The British Parliament commissioned the painting in 1954 for the former prime minister’s 80th birthday. Winston Churchill did not like the portrait, after which the painting was taken to his country house and hidden from the general public.
According to Bloomberg, the cost of the sketch could reach $1 million. The painting will be exhibited from April 16 to 21 at Blenheim Palace (Oxfordshire), after which it will be auctioned in New York. The auction will take place from May 3 to May 16.
The Bloomberg material quotes the author of the book “Churchill and the Bomb,” Kevin Ruane. Graham Sutherland was an artist known for his “gritty realism,” he said. Before starting work on the painting, Winston Churchill jokingly asked the artist whether he intended to depict him as an angel or a bulldog. “And he drew what he saw in 1954. He was an almost 80-year-old man who had suffered a stroke a year earlier,” said Mr. Ruan.
The painting was not exhibited in parliament. Winston Churchill himself publicly ridiculed the work at the presentation of the painting, ironically calling it “a wonderful example of modern art.” After this, the portrait was taken to the politician’s country house and placed in the basement. From that moment on, the fate of the painting remained unknown. The Bloomberg story states that the painting was burned by his secretary, Grace Hamblin, and her brother, with the permission of the politician’s wife, Clementine. Official confirmation that the painting was actually destroyed has not yet been found.
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