These are studies for Winston Churchill’s right hand in Graham Sutherland’s celebrated portrait commissioned by The Houses of Parliament in 1954.

Churchill famously remarked at the ceremony in Westminster Hall that “the portrait is a remarkable example of modern art. It certainly combines force and candour…….”. In private he was considerably less complimentary and his displeasure led to the portrait being destroyed by his family shortly afterwards.

The picture’s destruction only became known at Lady Churchill’s death in 1977. Sutherland, at the time, was working in Wales where he was besieged by reporters. He was staying with his great friends the Ruggerinis, former owners of the present study. Paolo Ruggerini recalled, “I was amazed that his (Sutherland’s) mood was just the same. He was only put out by the fact that he had to go and answer the telephone every five minutes. That evening over dinner, I said to him, ‘Now, Graham, what did you really think when you heard?’ He said, ‘Pier Paolo, Lady Churchill burned the portrait. She didn’t like it. C’est un acte de vandalisme. But it doesn’t affect me.’ ” (Roger Berthoud Graham Sutherland: A Biography 1982 p.301).