(RM) 608852865
INTIMATE PORTRAYAL OF SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, PAINTED BY GRAHAM SUTHERLAND ON VIEW TO THE PUBLIC AT BLENHEIM PALACE FROM 16 – 21 APRIL .DISPLAYED IN ROOM WHERE CHURCHILL WAS BORN, IN HIS 150TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR BEFORE BEING AUCTIONED BY SOTHEBY'S LON
Winston Churchill was one of the past century's most, consequential figures, and as a result, also became one of its most reproduced characters, described by the curators of the National Portrait Gallery in London as “the most famous face, of the 20th century”. The legacy that he left rests in no small part on the extraordinary care he, took to cultivate his public image: from the ‘V for Victory' to his cigars and bowler hats. Over, the course of his life, he was painted by William Orpen, John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert, William Nicholson and Oswald Birley, among others., Churchill was extraordinarily concerned by how he was represented, and often gave withering, assessments to those who dared portray him. The portrait painted by Graham Sutherland in, 1954 proved to be the most objectionable.The final portrait itself was destroyed, in a moment, that was immortalised in popular culture by The Crown, leaving a number of accomplished, studies that offer a different insight into the commission., Sutherland was at the very forefront of modern British art, at the time eclipsing Francis Bacon, who shared a gallery with him, and his works reflected an utterly original, and intense, vision., The Houses of Parliament commissioned the artist to paint a portrait for Churchill's 80th, birthday, and thus set about a fascinating chapter in Churchill's life story, which ended in the, painting being burned., This Spring, Sotheby's will offer one of the best surviving portraits of Churchill by, Sutherland relating to the 80th birthday commission, an intimate painted study created, in preparation for the final destroyed work. Focused solely on the head, Sutherland pours, his energies into a dextrous, painterly analysis of the man during an incomparably, challenging period of his life. It was given by Graham Sutherland to Alfred Hecht, the, framer to the greatest Modern British artists of the day, who kept it all of his life and gifted, it to the present owner. It is now set to make its auction debut., Prior to the auction, the painting will be exhibited at Blenheim Palace, the Oxfordshire, home of the Churchill family. It will be on view to the public from 16 – 21 April in Winston, Churchill's birthplace, in a fitting tribute to his 150th anniversary., The painting will then travel to Sotheby's New York (3-16 May) and London (25 May-5, June), before going under the hammer on 6 June with an estimate of £500, 000 –, 800, 000., Credit:Jules Annan / Avalon (KEYSTONE/AVALON/Jules Annan / Avalon)
