Graham Sutherland OM (1903–1980) was an English artist, best known as the painter of the portrait of Sir Winston Churchill aged 80, subsequently destroyed by the sitter's wife, Clementine. Having begun an apprenticeship as a railway engineer, Sutherland studied at Goldsmith's School of Art for five years during the 1920s, concentrating on engraving and etching. He first exhibited drawings and engravings at the XXI Gallery, London, in 1925 and was a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers from 1926 to 1933; during this period he taught, and illustrated books. In the 1930s he began painting surreal landscapes in oils and in 1936 was represented in the International Surrealist Exhibition in London. During the Second World War he was an official war artist, often depicting scenes of bomb damage. He held his first New York exhibition at the Buchholz Gallery in 1946, and in the same year completed a representation of the crucifixion for St Matthew's Church, Northampton. In 1949, he painted a portrait of Somerset Maugham, which is credited with reviving English interest in portraiture and initiated a series including Lord Beaverbrook, Churchill and others. Between 1954 and 1957 he was commissioned to design the Coventry Cathedral tapestry, installed in 1962. He also designed posters, ceramics, book illustrations, and ballet costumes and décor. Major retrospective exhibitions were held at the London Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1951, the Venice Biennale and the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris in 1952, the Tate Gallery in 1953, and at the São Paulo Bienal, Brazil in 1955.
