Graham Sutherland

Graham Sutherland 1903-80, English painter. Sutherland began his career as a painter at 35 and gained international acclaim with his paintings of war devastation. Among his major religious works are a tapestry for Coventry Cathedral and a series of paintings entitled Thorns. Realistically painted in sharp, cruel forms, they are symbolic of the Passion.

Bibliography: See studies by E. Sackville-West (1955) and D. Cooper (1962).

Sutherland, Graham (1903–80). Painter. Sutherland studied art at Goldsmiths College, London. His early work, influenced by Samuel Palmer, was in etching and engraving, before he moved into ceramics and painting. During the Second World War, as an official war artist, he produced powerful studies of air‐raid devastation in London and Swansea. A portrait of Somerset Maugham (1949) was the first of several strong representations of famous people. That of Winston Churchill was commissioned by Parliament, but destroyed by the sitter's wife.

Sutherland, Graham (1903–80). Painter. Sutherland studied art at Goldsmiths College, London, after abandoning a railway engineering apprenticeship. His early work, influenced by Samuel Palmer, was in etching and engraving, before he moved into ceramics and painting. During the Second World War, as an official war artist, he produced powerful studies of air-raid devastation in London and Swansea. A number of important public commissions followed, including a Crucifixion for St Matthew's, Northampton (1944), and, one of his most celebrated works, the design for the tapestry Christ in Glory in the new Coventry cathedral in 1962. A portrait of Somerset Maugham (1949), now in the Tate Gallery, was the first of several strong representations of famous people. That of Winston Churchill was commissioned by Parliament, but destroyed by the sitter's wife. Sutherland's first love remained landscape, especially in Wales, where he established a gallery at Picton castle.

June Cochrane