In a letter to The Daily Telegraph published on 23 April, Alistair Lexden drew attention to the existence of a copy of Graham Sutherland’s remarkable portrait, painted for Churchill’s 80th birthday in 1954, which his wife later arranged to have destroyed.
SIR -- Graham Sutherland’s preliminary work for his controversial portrait of Churchill possesses all the qualities which made this great artist so famous (“Draft portrait destroyed by Churchill on sale for £800k”, report,17 April).
The finished portrait was later carefully recreated by a naturalised Englishman, Albrecht von Leyden MBE (1905-94), who had a huge admiration for both the painter and his subject. He felt strongly that the portrait ought not to be lost for ever.
Using Sutherland’s various preparatory sketches and detailed notes provided by his widow, von Leyden painted a faithful copy in 1981. He explained that his aim was above all to capture Churchill’s “defiance, resolution and contempt [for Hitler], which I felt sure had been the purpose of Graham Sutherland.” This picture, so painstakingly done, was presented to the Carlton Club in 1991, where it remains. Churchill’s daughter, Lady Soames, came to see it and agreed that the club should “act as its guardian”.
Lord Lexden
Co-author, The Destruction and Rebirth of Sutherland’s Portrait of Churchill (2016)
London SW1
