Artist who painted famous Churchill portrait commemorated with blue plaque in Merton Park

Artist Graham Sutherland, who was known for painting a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill that the wartime leader hated, has been honoured with a blue plaque.

The commemorative plate from English Heritage is located at his childhood home, 8 Dorset Road, Merton Park, in south London.

Sutherland’s famous painting of Churchill was commissioned in 1954 by the Houses of Parliament, but the former prime minister hated his depiction so much that it was taken away and secretly burnt on the orders of his wife, Lady Clementine Churchill.

An episode of Netflix royal drama The Crown revolved around the creation of the painting, and last year Sutherland’s preparatory painting of Churchill was sold by Sotheby’s auction house for £660,000.

Sutherland trained at Goldsmiths’ College in the 1920s and was commissioned as an official war artist during the Second World War, with his work depicting scenes from the London Blitz, including Devastation, 1941: An East End Street.

He painted dozens of portraits in the 1950s and 60s and was also known for his religious artwork, most notably designing the central tapestry for the new Coventry Cathedral – Christ In Glory In The Tetramorph.

The artist died in February 1980 at the age of 76.

Author Rosemary Hill, former English Heritage blue plaques panel member, said: “Graham Sutherland was a child of the south London suburbs who felt a very English longing for a half-remembered, half-imagined rural past.

“In a Romantic tradition that descends from Samuel Palmer, Sutherland was perhaps the last Arts and Crafts artist, a master in tapestry and stained glass as well as an etcher and painter.

“After his death, his reputation rose and fell – overshadowed sometimes by that of his more spectacular friend Francis Bacon.

“It has now found its proper level, close to the heart of 20th century British art.”

The London blue plaques scheme was started in 1866 and is thought to be the oldest of its kind in the world.

Actress Audrey Hepburn and glam rock musician Marc Bolan are among the other blue plaque honourees for 2025.

The plaques, which need the owner of the building to approve them, are set to be installed throughout this year.

In 2024, the scheme was officially expanded outside of the capital, with the woman credited as the first black matron in the NHS, Daphne Steele, becoming the principal honouree with a Yorkshire plaque.

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