The Portrait which Lady Churchill Destroyed - A library picture of the portrait of Sir Winston Churchill, by artist Graham Sutherland, which was presented to the great statesman as a gift on his 80th birthday by the Houses of Parliament. Today, the 23-year-old mystery of the painting, which was never seen in public, was finally solved. Lady Churchill's three executors, Lady Soames, Sir John Colville and Mr Peregrine Spencer-Churchill, said in a statement that Lady Churchill, said in a statement that Lady Churchill destroyed it before her husband died. The Churchill couple both loathed the work, of which Sir Winston once said: "It makes me look half-witted, which I ain't." November 26, 1954. (Photo by Press Association Photos).