Rarely seen portrait of Margaret Thatcher may go to Kuwait in private sale

It was in Margaret Thatcher’s own words a painting of “sheer genius” – a life-sized portrait of the prime minister standing as she wanted to be remembered “at the door of 10 Downing Street”.

For almost 25 years, the remarkable portrait has remained hidden from public view. It was tracked down by The Telegraph to a store room in Worcestershire where it is kept by the artist who painted it and owns it.
It is now for sale with a grave risk it will be sold abroad and lost to the British nation for ever.

"The portrait on the steps of No 10 exceeded all my expectations. It was so realistic. Your idea was sheer genius and it has succeeded."

The artist, Michael Noakes, gave Mrs Thatcher, who was a close friend, her own private viewing of the portrait in his back garden in north-west London in 1996, six years after she had resigned as prime minister.

Photographs of the occasion, never before published, show the moment Mrs Thatcher comes face to face with the life-sized portrait. She specially prepared for the event, wearing a blue outfit similar to the one she is wearing in the portrait.

Artist Michael Noakes with his eleven feet high painting of Margaret Thatcher at the door of Number 10, Downing Street

In a letter dated July 23, 1996, Mrs Thatcher wrote to Mr Noakes and his wife Vivien Langley, a respected writer, thanking them for arranging the viewing.

“Last evening was a wonderful occasion for us,” wrote Mrs Thatcher. “The portrait on the steps of No 10 exceeded all my expectations. It was so realistic. Your idea was sheer genius and it has succeeded.

“We must get more people to see it so that a permanent home worthy of your great talents may be found.”

Mrs Thatcher then signed off the letter with further gratitude. “Thank you so very much. I shall be very happy to be remembered at the door of 10 Downing Street. All good wishes. Margaret Thatcher.”

The portrait, which comes with railings and front step, stands 12ft 5in tall and is a precise replica of the Downing Street entrance.
Mr Noakes measured the space in preparation for the portrait while Mrs Thatcher was still in office and then took about 18 months to complete the monumental painting.

The portrait, completed after sittings at Mr Noakes’s family home in St John’s Wood, was unveiled by Denis Thatcher at the Fine Arts Society in London shortly after, but has not been seen in public since.

Mr Noakes is now looking for a buyer and has had interest expressed by a businessman in Kuwait. But he would rather the painting remained in Britain if a buyer can be found.

The portrait’s value is unclear but a previous portrait of Mrs Thatcher painted by Mr Noakes sold at a Conservative Party fund-raising auction for £440,000. Mr Noakes is one of Britain’s most celebrated, living portrait artists. He has painted The Queen and other members of the Royal family, Bill

Clinton and Pope Benedict XVI among others.
After he was commissioned to do the painting, Mr Noakes went to Chequers for the sittings. “After the first session, I said to the prime minister: 'I would like to do a formal picture of you on the doorstep of Number 10’. She grabbed my arm and said: 'Let’s do that’.

Mr Noakes said the painting had languished in storage and it was now time to find it a permanent home.

“There is a possibility it might go abroad. I would prefer it to stay in England. The problem is I do need to be paid for it.”