The portrait Churchill never wanted anyone to see: Draft of destroyed painting ... trends now
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A portrait of Sir Winston Churchill painted in preparation for a work that was later destroyed on the orders of his wife could fetch up to £800,000 at auction.
The Houses of Parliament had commissioned British artist Graham Sutherland to paint a portrait of the then prime minister for his 80th birthday in 1954.
An episode of hit Netflix drama The Crown revolved around the creation of the painting and showed Sir Winston's wife Clementine watching it go up in flames following its unveiling.
Sir Winston - who was depicted by John Lithgow - was seen branding the portrait a 'humiliation' as he shouted at Stephen Dillane's Sutherland.
The real Churchill - who was in his second and final stint in Downing Street - described it to his doctor as 'filthy and malignant' and threatened not to attend the unveiling ceremony inside Westminster Hall.
Although he did show up, he damned Sutherland's painting with faint praise by telling massed MPs and dignitaries that it was a 'remarkable example of modern art'.
The PM hated the depiction because it showed all of his advanced years. Historian Simon Schama said in 2015: 'The painting is an extraordinary homage to Churchill. What Sutherland saw in front of him was a magnificent ruin… Churchill said it made him look half-witted. It doesn't. It is a man of years.'
A portrait of Sir Winston Churchill painted in preparation for a work that was later destroyed on the orders of his wife could fetch up to £800,000 at auction
The Houses of Parliament had commissioned British artist Graham Sutherland to paint a portrait of the then prime minister for his 80th birthday in 1954. The real Churchill described it to his doctor as 'filthy and malignant' and threatened not to attend the unveiling ceremony inside Westminster Hall (above)
The painting was later taken
