The second version of the portrait of Churchill, which he hated, was put up for auction (4 photos)

A sketch for a portrait of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965), which he disliked so much that the canvas was burned, will go under the hammer for the first time.





On his 80th birthday in 1954, Churchill received many gifts from around the world, including a commemorative portrait by the artist Graham Sutherland, commissioned by the British Parliament. Churchill hated the resulting portrait, a well-known historical fact that was even featured in the TV series The Crown.

However, has the Prime Minister seen the second version of the portrait, which is a sketch of the first? If not, then Churchill was very lucky. Or vice versa, according to experts at the Sotheby's auction house, where this surviving version will be sold for 800 thousand pounds sterling.

This is the portrait Winston Churchill received for his 80th birthday. He hated it because it looked “drunk as hell”



This is how the Prime Minister himself put it. He posed for the artist Graham Sutherland in several passes and wanted to look noble in the portrait. Churchill also saw some early sketches of the sitter's work, which he liked, but the final result angered him greatly. At the same time, the portrait was solemnly presented to the politician in the Palace of Westminster (imagine the expression on his face).

One of the probable (witnesses differ in their testimony) quotes from Churchill when he first saw the portrait:

I look like a drunk who's been pulled out of a ditch in the Strand.

There's even a scene in The Crown where Churchill berates this portrait.

John Lithgow, who played Churchill, perfectly conveyed the emotions of the Prime Minister, look.



As a result, at Winston’s urgent request, the portrait was first hidden from the whole world in the basement, and then burned (although there is a theory that it was not). Art critics consider the painting extremely successful, which is why the destruction of Sutherland’s “Portrait of Winston Churchill” is perceived as a tragedy of British painting.

There was another, earlier version of the portrait, which will now be sold at auction. Here she is



Here Churchill is depicted looking out of the window and dictating a letter. Andre Zlattinger, a Sotheby's expert, suggested that Churchill "quite possibly" would have preferred this rough sketch to the final portrait. Although, as we can see, the topic of clinical alcoholism is covered here no less, if not more.

Now this version of the portrait will be sold for 800 thousand pounds sterling (997 thousand dollars) on June 6, 2024. The sale is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the birth of the legendary Briton.