Though he was willing to publicly acquiesce, privately he made his opinion well known. Churchill expressed his opinion that the portrait would “bring an element of controversy into a function that was intended to be a matter of general agreement between the Members” and was therefore “not suitable as a presentation from both Houses of Parliament.” Dismayed, Sutherland contacted Charles Doughty, the secretary of the commissioning committee, who, acting as intermediary, was able to convince Churchill that the ceremony should continue as planned for the sake of national morale. She thanked Sutherland and asked for a photograph to bring back to Churchill, whose response reached the painter the following day. Just 10 days before Churchill’s birthday and the portrait’s official presentation, Clementine went to see the painting. The marquee event of the day was a televised ceremony in Westminster Hall where Churchill was presented with a portrait by Graham Sutherland, gifted to him jointly by the two Houses of Parliament. The cartoon shows Churchill, the painter, painting over a portrait he loathed.Ĭhurchill’s 80th birthday on 30 November 1954 was a day of national celebration. The artist is Michael Cummings (1919-1997), who worked for Punch for more than 30 years. This cartoon appeared thus on p.182 of the 2 February 1955 issue of Punch. His book is the first ever effort to definitively catalog, describe, and contextualize all of the many Punch cartoons featuring Churchill. Stiles, author of Churchill in Punch (Unicorn Publishing Group, 2022). Churchill comes from the personal collection of Gary L. This original printed appearance of a Punch cartoon featuring Winston S. He's always worth watching.London: Punch, 1955. Simon Shama is an exceptional historian & covers his subjects well for television. *I can't find any link to the show itself, though I was sure it would be on DVD somewhere. His wife had the painting burned soon afterwards. He was weak, he was 80 years old & recovering from a stroke - and this was not how he wanted the world to remember him. The footage of Churchill's speech to Parliament still exists, & you'll note he never even turns to look at the painting as he 'compliments' it. Sutherland's talent, btw, has never been questioned. The two were at war from the start, but Churchill had been pressured into sitting for the painting - it was to be a great honour to one of the most famous Parliamentarians in British history. Graham Sutherland, however, was not in the habit of painting what the subject would prefer, but instead to almost caricature what he saw in front of him, warts & all. He got Churchill, who was already irritable, in exactly the wrong mood to smile - by taking his cigar off him while he was smoking it, then snap. The Bulldog was epitomised by Yousuf Karsh in this memorable photograph Those were the only two public personas he considered, ever. Not easy to cover in a few paragraphs what was covered perfectly by Simon Shama in The Face of Britain*Ĭhurchill thought of himself as 'The Bulldog' with a hint of 'Cherub'. So my question is "Why does Churchill hate his portrait"? Other reactions were mixed some critics praised the strength of its likeness, but others condemned it as a disgrace.Īfter that, the conversation between Prime minister Churchill and Sutherland is not clear to me why Churchill doesn't like that portrait!!? (may be its because English is my second language I couldn't understand it properly In his acceptance speech, Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill remarked on the unprecedented honour shown to him and described the painting (in a remark often considered a backhanded compliment) as "a remarkable example of modern art", combining "force and candour". The presentation ceremony at Westminster Hall was recorded by the BBC. In the ninth episode of the first season of Netflix's The Crown, Graham Sutherland paints Churchill's portrait as an 80th birthday gift from Parliament, but Prime Minister Churchill hates that portrait, in episode : (as per google Sutherland's Portrait of Winston Churchill)
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