This emotionally charged painting offers glimpse into private childhood world of UK PM Johnson

A painting by Charlotte Johnson Wahl, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's late mother, will feature at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind in Beckenham.

The painting, which is called 'Where is Mama?', will feature alongside paintings by artists that include Louis Wain and Richard Dadd.

Providing a glimpse into the difficult period of the prime minister’s life, the frank and poignant artwork, was made by Wahl when she was still married to Stanley Johnson and separated from her four young children.

The exhibition, which is about mental health, opens next month and is titled 'A way from home: Bethlem artists on longing and belonging'.

In picture:Where is Mama? (1974) by Charlotte Johnson Wahl.Photograph: Ben McDade/Bethlem Museum of the Mind

When Wahl was away from her family while being treated in south London’s Maudsley Hospital for her compulsive behaviours, her four young children Boris, Rachel, Leo and Jo were experiencing a difficult time.

The painting depicts the prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson holding hands with his wife and his children.

''Charlotte had a long association with the museum, which has two of her other works in its permanent collection,'' Colin Gale, the museum’s director, told The Guardian.

“For us, she is a significant painter first, and then the mother of some accomplished people, second.”

Wahl, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 40, later became president of the European Commission for Human Rights.

(With inputs from agencies)

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