Graham Sutherland
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Graham Vivian Sutherland (August 24, 1903 - February 17, 1980) was an English artist.
He was born in London and worked as an engineer at the Midland Railway Works before studying engraving at Goldsmiths College from 1921 to 1926. His early prints of pastoral subjects show the influence of Samuel Palmer. He did not begin to paint in earnest until he was in his mid-30s. These pieces are mainly landscapes, which show an affinity with the work of Paul Nash. Sutherland focused on the inherent strangeness of natural forms, and abstracting them, sometimes giving his work a surrealist appearance; in 1936 he exhibited in the International Surrealist Exhibition in London.
He was employed as an official artist in World War II. Following the war, he produced several religious pieces, including a Crucifixion for St Matthew's Church in Northampton and the tapestry Christ in Glory (1962) for Coventry Cathedral, as well as continuing to produce work based on natural forms. Sometimes, as in Head III (1953), these forms, often considered threatening in appearance, have an organic appearance but are entirely invented.
Sutherland also painted a number of portraits, with one of Somerset Maugham (1949) the first and among the most famous. His painting of Winston Churchill (1954) was famously destroyed on the orders of Lady Churchill (studies for the portrait have survived, however).
The main Art and Design building at Coventry University is named after him.