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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Winston Churchill, 1927

Walter Sickert

Winston Churchill, 1927

Sir Winston Churchill (1874–1965) achieved iconic status for leading Britain in the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. He is instantly recognisable, usually holding a cane and wreathed in cigar smoke. Churchill was also an avid amateur painter.

This informal painting was completed when Churchill was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and artist Walter Sickert was giving him painting lessons. In a letter of 26 September 1927 to his wife, Clementine, Churchill wrote about Sickert’s influence on him: ‘I see my way to paint far better pictures than I ever thought possible before. He is really giving me a new lease of life as a painter.’ However, Churchill disliked the portrait and gave it away soon after it had been presented to him.

National Portrait Gallery, London Given by the Art Fund, 1965
© National Portrait Gallery, London

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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