Graham Sutherland English painter, graphic artist and designer, worked mainly in France Date of Birth: 28.04.1903 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Graham Sutherland

Graham Sutherland was an English painter, printmaker, and designer, primarily working in France. He was known for his expressive, abstract, and surrealist paintings, as well as his portraits. Sutherland was born into a family of a London lawyer. He studied at Epsom College from 1914 to 1918 and then spent three years training to be a railway engineer at Midland Railway Company. In 1921, he enrolled at the Goldsmiths' School of Art in London. From 1921 to 1933, Sutherland focused mainly on various forms of printmaking. In 1923, he published his first graphic works and presented them at an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. In 1925, he became a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (excluded in 1933). In 1933, Sutherland moved to Pembrokeshire in Wales, which he considered ideal for painting landscapes. Here, he also created hallucinatory illustrations influenced by the works of William Blake and his disciple Samuel Palmer. In 1926, Sutherland converted to Catholicism. On December 29 of the same year, he married Kathleen Barry, his fellow student at Goldsmiths' School. To support his family, Sutherland worked as a drawing teacher at Kingston School and later taught graphic technique at the Chelsea School of Art. He also created commercial posters, fabric designs, and ceramic pieces. Starting from 1931, due to the weak demand for graphic works, the artist devoted more and more of his time to painting. In 1936, Sutherland and his wife moved to Trottiscliffe. In 1938, his first exhibition of paintings took place at the Rosenberg and Helft Gallery in London. With the outbreak of World War II, Sutherland, along with other talented British painters and sculptors such as Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, and Henry Moore, was mobilized as a "war artist" from August 1940 until the end of the war in 1945. During this period, Sutherland created a large number of watercolors, pen and pencil sketches, and his talent matured under the influence of what he saw during the war. At the end of the war, Sutherland created his first compositions, "Thorn Bushes" and "Thistle Heads". In 1944, the artist received a commission from the canon of St. Matthew's Church in Northampton to decorate its interior. Sutherland created a tragic depiction of the crucified Christ there. In the spring of 1947, Sutherland made his first trip to the south of France, where he visited the Picasso Museum in Antibes and personally met Picasso and Matisse. The landscapes of the French Riviera made a strong impression on the artist. In the following years, he spent a lot of time on the French Mediterranean coast, where he worked extensively. In 1949, Sutherland painted his first of many portraits, that of writer W. Somerset Maugham. In the same year, the artist became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery in London. In September 1950, he visited Venice for the first time. In 1952, an exhibition of Sutherland's works was organized in the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. In the 1950s and 1960s, the artist spent the winter months in England and the rest of the year in Menton, where he had his own Ville Blanche. During the summers, he worked in his studio in Venice. From 1952 to 1961, Sutherland worked on a commission to create a large tapestry, "Christ in Glory," for the restored Coventry Cathedral. During this period, the artist also painted many of his portraits. In 1965, the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Turin organized the first comprehensive exhibition of Sutherland's works. In 1960, Graham Sutherland was awarded the Order of Merit by the British government. Since 1962, he has been an honorary doctor of the University of Oxford.