Artist defends Churchill portrait at London gallery after colleagues denounce ‘falsehood’ | National Portrait Gallery

A Turner prize-winning artist has been accused of telling a “blatant lie” about Winston Churchill in a video posted on National Portrait Gallery (NPG) has defended its work, saying its purpose was to “discuss” the figures in the group.

Helen CammockA 40-minute moving picture called Persistence is centered around Churchill’s role in the Bengal famine of 1943.

In this work, Cammock, who narrates the piece, discusses Oliver Cromwell campaign in Irelandsaying that they “starved people, in large numbers, like the deliberate starvation of the people of India by Winston Churchill”.

Lord Roberts of Belgravia – Churchill’s biographer – wrote a letter to NPG directors, signed by more than 50 of his peers, describing the claims as “absurd lies” and calling the film a “motivational proposition”.

Cammock’s work was also criticized by the Telegraph, which called his claim that Churchill had started the famine “wrong”.

In a statement to the Guardian, Cammock wrote: “This work considers the image’s role in history and its relevance today.

“It’s not a documentary, it’s a creative work that explores ideas and concepts in response to the National Portrait Gallery, its collections and its archives.”

Churchill’s role in the disaster, how an about 3 million people In the East of India he died, he was very much against the students.

Many agree that Churchill’s policies caused the famine, but his defenders argue that it was not predictable and that the wartime leader was unaware of what was happening on the ground. Some blame the drought and say that when Churchill realized the danger, he took steps to reduce the food shortage.

The Telegraph described the famine as “a severe famine caused by natural disasters and exacerbated by poor management and wartime hardships”.

However, some scholars argue that Churchill he ignored the warnings about the shortage of ricewhich was made worse by diverting food from the British Empire during the war instead of keeping it in India.

Before the Japanese invasion of India in 1942, Churchill ordered a stockpile of war food, which exacerbated the famine a year later and was Britain’s worst civilian toll of World War II.

Relief work was started in late 1943, but at that time the number of people killed was high.

Cammock is the latest British artist to be noticed by the British press. Southbank chairman Misan Harriman is accused of publishing “antisemitic plots” because he shared a tweet asking why there weren’t more stories about the Muslim victims of Golders Green in April.

In December 2025, the media reported that a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II by David Bailey. was “removed” on Larry Achiampong’s African flag project, which took its place at the Foreign Office.

Achiampong he told the Guardian at the time that the coverage of his work was in line with the growth of anti-immigrant sentiments in parts of the media.

Artists who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity said Churchill’s argument was an “attempt to stop artists and organisations”, adding that it was part of a “wider war … which is politically motivated”.

The NPG said it had received the letter from Mr Roberts and would respond, but was not aware of any visitor complaints about the painting, which was created in 2023 and will be on display until August.

Cammock added: “The National Portrait Gallery is a vital public resource and it is important that it continues to discuss the works it oversees, and its historical significance.”

In a statement, the museum said the work was “created and explained by the artist and includes his views on past and present events”.

It added: “We support the freedom of artistic expression while not necessarily endorsing the views expressed by any of the artists featured in the gallery.”