Who was Graham Sutherland?
Graham Sutherland was a Twentieth Century artist
principally famous for his portraits and his giant tapestry in Coventry
Cathedral.
Date and Place of Birth:
24th August 1903, London, England.
Family Background:
Sutherland was the son of a lawyer and civil
servant.
Education:
Goldsmiths' College of Art, London.
Chronology/Biography of Graham Sutherland:
1926: Sutherland
became a Catholic.
1930: The print
market in Great Britain in which he had plied his trade collapsed
due to the recession and Sutherland began painting.
1934: Sutherland
was profoundly affected by the landscape of Pembrokeshire in Wales.
1936: He exhibited
some landscapes in the International Surrealist Exhibition in London.
1937: Sutherland
moved to the White House in Kent.
1940: Sutherland
was appointed an official War Artist. He principally worked on the
home front painting and drawing the mines and urban bomb damage.
1944: The vicar
of St Matthew's in Northampton, Walter Hussey, commissioned him
to paint "The Crucifixion" for the church.
1946: St Matthew's
Church, "Crucifixion" completed.
1947: His work became
inspired by his visits to the South of France.
1949: Sutherland
painted a portrait of William Somerset Maugham.
1952: He exhibited
in the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale with other artists
such as Edward Wadsworth.
1954: The controversial
portrait of Winston Churchill is painted.
(Later to be destroyed by Churchill's wife after his death).
1955: Sutherland
purchased a villa in Menton in the South of France.
1962: The large
tapestry "Christ in Glory" was completed for the new Coventry
Cathedral designed by the Architect Basil Spence.
1967: Returned again
to Wales and was to work there many times again before his death.
Marriage:
1927 to Kathleen Barry.
Date and Place of Death:
17th February 1980, London, England.
Age at Death:
76.
Site of Grave:
Churchyard at Trottiscliffe, Kent after a private
service at a Roman Catholic Seminary in West Malling.
Places of Interest:
COVENTRY:
Coventry Cathedral (Tapestry behind Altar)
GLOUCESTERSHIRE:
Nature in Art, Wallsworth Hall
HAMPSHIRE:
City Art Gallery, Southampton
LANCASHIRE:
Bolton Art Gallery
Art Gallery, Bury
City Art Gallery, Manchester
LONDON:
Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon
Tate Britain
National Portrait Gallery
SUSSEX:
Chichester Cathedral
Pallant House, Chichester
WILTSHIRE:
Museum and Art Gallery, Swindon
YORKSHIRE:
Ory Art Gallery, Leeds.
WALES:
Graham Sutherland Gallery, Penrhyn Castle, Bangor
School of Art Gallery and Museum, Aberystwyth.
Further Information:
