Graham Sutherland (1903-1980)

1903 - 1980

Graham Vivian Sutherland was born in Streatham, London on 24th August 1903. He was the eldest of three children to parents who were both amateur painters and musicians. He attended the Homefield Preparatory School in Sutton and then Epsom College, Surrey until 1919. Following family tradition, he began an engineering apprenticeship at the Midland Railway Locomotive Works in Derby but quickly realised this was not his destiny. He attended the Goldsmiths School of Art in 1921, specialising in engraving and etching until he graduated in 1926. Even as a student, Sutherland exhibited drawings and engravings at the XXI gallery in 1925 and 1928, which provided him with a source of income. His influence was of pastoral subjects from William Blake and Samuel Palmer and he was a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers from 1926 – 1933. He taught engraving at the Chelsea School of Art from 1926. However, the print market collapsed in the early 1930’s due to the Great Depression and Sutherland then started to concentrate on painting. His early works were mainly landscapes and inspired by Paul Nash. He visited Pembrokeshire in 1934 and the area was to profoundly influence his focus on natural forms which often led to his work being of a surreal nature. He exhibited at the International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936 and this period secured his reputation as a leading Modern British artist. From 1935 – 1940 he taught composition and book illustration at Chelsea, exhibited at ... show more

Graham Vivian Sutherland was born in Streatham, London on 24th August 1903. He was the eldest of three children to parents who were both amateur painters and musicians. He attended the Homefield Preparatory School in Sutton and then Epsom College, Surrey until 1919. Following family tradition, he began an engineering apprenticeship at the Midland Railway Locomotive Works in Derby but quickly realised this was not his destiny. He attended the Goldsmiths School of Art in 1921, specialising in engraving and etching until he graduated in 1926. Even as a student, Sutherland exhibited drawings and engravings at the XXI gallery in 1925 and 1928, which provided him with a source of income. His influence was of pastoral subjects from William Blake and Samuel Palmer and he was a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers from 1926 – 1933. He taught engraving at the Chelsea School of Art from 1926. However, the print market collapsed in the early 1930’s due to the Great Depression and Sutherland then started to concentrate on painting. His early works were mainly landscapes and inspired by Paul Nash. He visited Pembrokeshire in 1934 and the area was to profoundly influence his focus on natural forms which often led to his work being of a surreal nature. He exhibited at the International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936 and this period secured his reputation as a leading Modern British artist. From 1935 – 1940 he taught composition and book illustration at Chelsea, exhibited at

the NEAC 1929 -1933 and with the London Group from 1932. He held his first one-man show at the Paul Rosenberg and Helft Gallery in 1938, mainly showing Welsh landscapes. As well as oil painting Sutherland took up glass design, fabric design and poster designs. He converted to Catholicism as a young man which resulted in deep religious convictions and his work was often filled with spiritual references. His conversion was in 1926, a year before he married Kathleen Barry who was a fellow student at Goldsmiths College from whom he was inseparable. They lived at various homes in Kent before settling at Trottiscliffe in 1945. At the start of World War II, the Chelsea School of Art losed and the Sutherlands moved to Tetbury in Gloucestershire. Between 1940 and 1945 Sutherland was employed by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee. He recorded bomb damage in Wales and then damage caused by the Blitz in both Wales and London. This single body of work was called “Devastation”, never disclosed locations or human remains. He completed no less than 150 works. In 1946 his first New York exhibition was held at the Buchholz Gallery and again in 1948 as a solo exhibition, also at the Hanover Gallery in London. He held a solo show at the Venice Biennale in 1952 which was also shown at the Musee Nationale d’Art Modern in Paris. In 1953 a show at the Arts Council of Great Britain was also shown at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Kunsthaus Zurich and the Tate Gallery in London. Sutherland served as a Trustee of the Tate Gallery from 1948-1954. In 1946 he was commissioned to paint “The Crucifixion” by Walter Hussey, Vicar of St Matthews Church, Northampton, an important patron of modern religious art. He completed the designs for the Coventry Cathedral Tapestry “Christ in Glory in the Tetramorph” between 1954 and 1957, which was installed in 1962 having made nine visits to the weavers in France to complete the work. Sutherland acquired several patrons in Italy and used to spend his time between Menton and Venice after he purchased his home in Menton. He painted several portraits during this period, famously of Sir Winston Churchill which caused great consternation and was later destroyed by Lady Spencer-Churchill. He was established as an unofficial State Portrait painter by the Queen Mother and received the Order of Merit in 1960. His absence from Britain whilst enjoying sunnier climes, did affect his status here, but towards the end of his life he became inspired once more by the Pembrokeshire landscape and worked regularly in the region again. He exhibited at the Marlborough Gallery in London from where this painting was bought by a private collector. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York in 1972 and died in London on 17th February 1980. He is buried at the church of St Peter & St Paul at Trottiscliffe, Kent. Graham Sutherland contributed greatly to Modern British Art and his work is found in many private and public collections, including the Courtauld, Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Gallery, Northampton, Manchester, Norwich, Southampton, Bristol and Doncaster Museums to mention a small selection. Several books have been written about him as an artist and printmaker. He will be remembered as a painter, etcher and designer, of abstractionism and surrealism and for his great contribution as a war artist.