[19] In all, Sutherland painted over fifty portraits, often of European aristocrats or senior businessmen. However, Sutherland's final preparatory sketch was exhibited publicly at the Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fair in London in 2003, having been lost for 25 years. [5], Sutherland's early prints of pastoral subjects show the influence of Samuel Palmer, largely mediated by the older etcher, F.L. His work is much inspired by landscape and religion, and he designed the tapestry for the re-built Coventry Cathedral. His work was much inspired by landscape and religion, and he designed the tapestry for the re-built Coventry Cathedral. Living abroad led to something of a decline in his status in Britain. [7] Much of his work from this point until the end of his life incorporates motifs taken from the area, such as the estuaries at Sandy Haven and Picton. Yet he was once a household name in Britain. He was an official war artist in the Second World War. To complete the work, Sutherland visited the weavers, Pinton Frères [fr] of Felletin in France, on nine occasions. He served as an official war artist in the Second World War drawing industrial scenes on the British home front. [14] In December 1944 he was sent to depict the damage inflicted by the RAF on the railway yards at Trappes and on the flying bomb sites at Saint-Leu-d'Esserent in France. In 1944, he was commissioned by Walter Hussey (the Vicar of St Matthew's Church, Northampton and an important patron of modern religious art) to paint The Crucifixion (1946). Graham Sutherland OM (1903–1980) was an English artist known for his works largely focused on landscape and religion. Sutherland spent four months from the end of March 1944 at the Royal Ordnance Factory at Woolwich Arsenal working on a series of five paintings for WAAC. It had been the spiky shapes of thorn bushes, evoking the cruelty of the Crown of Thorns, which inspired him at the end of the War, when he began thinking about religious subjects such as the … Sutherland had been a war artist in the Second World War, and was a convert to Roman Catholicism. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [15][16] In all Sutherland completed some 150 paintings as part of his WAAC commission.[11]. Available for sale from Anders Wahlstedt Fine Art, Graham Sutherland, Bees (1977), Etching and aquatint on paper, 22 1/4 × 17 3/4 in Born 1903, London. [6] In both 1925 and 1928, Sutherland exhibited drawings and engravings at the XXI Gallery in London. On receiving the present, commissioned by his staff, Beaverbrook said, "It's an outrage, but it's a masterpiece!". He recorded war work at mines, steel works and quarries in Cornwall, South Wales and Derbyshire, and the devastation of bomb-damaged Cardiff, Swansea, London and northern France. Sutherland, Graham (1903–80). Read more. Graham Sutherland : biography 24 August 1903 – 17 January 1980 Graham Vivian Sutherland OM (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was an English artist. As an official War Artist, Sutherland depicted bomb damage in London but it was not until after the war that he started to become really well known. BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The main building of Coventry School of Art and Design, part of Coventry University, is named after Sutherland. Streatham 1903 - London 1980 Graham (Vivian) Sutherland was born on August 24, 1903, in Streatham near London. Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph took three years to complete and was installed in 1962. The painting shows the war-time destruction. Churchill's wife had the painting burnt a year or two later. The same incident features in the Netflix series, The Crown, in which Sutherland is played by Stephen Dillane, and was discussed by Simon Schama in his 2015 BBC television series The Face of Britain by Simon Schama. From 1940 to 1945 he was employed as an Official War Artist, mainly recording the effects of bombing; his poignant pictures of shattered buildings are among the most famous images of the home front. [22] From 1948 until 1954, Sutherland served as a trustee of the Tate gallery. [5] After a year he succeeded in persuading his father that he was not destined for a career in engineering and that he should be allowed to study art. [2] It was subsequently destroyed on the orders of Churchill's wife, Clementine. From 1940 to 1945, he worked in the War Artists' Scheme, drawing bomb-sites, blast furnaces, tin … His work was much inspired by landscape and religion, and he designed the tapestry for the re-built Coventry Cathedral. Graham Sutherland was a wartime artist who painted this scene of what use to be a tall building in London. Graham Vivian Sutherland OM (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was an English artist who is notable for his work in glass, fabrics, prints and portraits. He was not the kindest of portrait painters. Printmaking, mostly of romantic landscapes, dominated Sutherland's work during the 1920s. However, in 1967, for an Italian television documentary, Sutherland visited Pembrokeshire for the first time in over twenty years and became inspired by the landscape to regularly work in the region until his death. Sutherland died in 1980 and was buried in the graveyard of the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Trottiscliffe, Kent. In London he concentrated on recording the effects of the enemy bombs falling on the East End and the City. In 1951, Sutherland was commissioned to produce a large work for the Festival of Britain. Sutherland contributed to the International Surrealist Exhibition in London and was an Official War Artist. Inscribed on back of board in black ‘DEVASTATION 1941 | CITY, TWISTED GIRDERS | Graham Sutherland’ upside down Presented by the War Artists Advisory … View Graham Sutherland’s 2,791 artworks on artnet. He started work in Swansea moving through London and the Midlands, Derbyshire, Cornwall and finally Trappes in France. Died 1980 Graham Sutherland started his working life as a railway engineering apprentice but after a year, he left to study art at Goldsmiths' College in London from 1920-25. Graham Sutherland. Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was an English artist who is notable for his work in glass, fabrics, prints and portraits. To Wales in September 1941 to work on show Sutherland painted a number of commissions. Art by working in watercolours before switching to using oil paints in the took. 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