William Feaver (born 1 December 1942) is a British art critic,

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

, artist and lecturer. From 1975–1998 he was the chief art critic of the

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

, and from 1994 a visiting professor at

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

. His book ''The Pitmen Painters'' inspired the play of the same name by Lee Hall.

Education

Feaver was educated at

Nottingham High School Nottingham High School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private fee-charging day school for boys and girls in Nottingham, England, with an infant and junior school (ages 4–11) and senior school (ages 11–18). There were 1177 stu ...

and

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

. After graduating from Oxford he became a teacher at Newcastle's Royal Grammar School (1965–71) before being appointed the Sir James Knott Fellow at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

. He is currently an academic board member of the Royal Drawing School.

Career as art critic

While at Newcastle, Feaver became the art critic of the Newcastle

Journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

before being appointed successively to the Listener (1971–75) and the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

(1974–75) before being joining the Observer. He won the ''Art Critic of the Year'' award in 1983. Feaver conducted an exemplary interview with Lucian Freud in 1992, ''The artist out of cage'' on Freud's 70th birthday, which has been re-published in English and German in the catalog of the Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt exhibition ''Lucian Freud: Naked Portraits''. His 2019 book, ''The Lives of Lucian Freud'', was shortlisted for the 2019

Baillie Gifford Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...

Family

His father was the Rt Rev Douglas Feaver. In 1964 Feaver married Victoria Turton (the poet Vicki Feaver). They had one son and three daughters. He married, secondly, in 1985, Andrea Rose OBE; they have two daughters.

Exhibitions curated

Feaver has curated a number of exhibitions in the UK and abroad, including: *

George Cruikshank George Cruikshank or Cruickshank ( ; 27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern William Hogarth, Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dicken ...

, V&A, 1974 * ''Thirties'',

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

, 1979 * The Ashington Group, Beijing, 1979 *

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. His early career as a painter was inf ...

exhibitions at Abbot Hall, Kendal (1996),

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

and La Caixa, Barcelona (2002),

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...

(2002-3) and

Museo Correr The Museo Correr () is a museum in Venice, northern Italy. Located in Piazza San Marco, St. Mark's Square, Venice, it is one of the 11 civic museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. The museum extends along the southside of the squar ...

, Venice (2005) * Michael Andrews, Tate Gallery, 2001 *

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

, 2002Constable at the Grand Palais
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Books published

* ''The Art of John Martin'', 1975 * ''When We Were Young'', 1976 * ''Masters of Caricature'', 1981 * ''Pitmen Painters'', 1988 * ''

Frank Auerbach Frank Helmut Auerbach (29 April 1931 – 11 November 2024) was a German-born British painter. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, he became a naturalised British subject in 1947. He is considered one of the leading names in the School of Lo ...

'', 2009 * ''The Lives of Lucian Freud: Youth 1922–1968'', 2019 * ''The Lives of Lucian Freud: Fame 1968-2011'', 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feaver, William 1942 births Living people People educated at Nottingham High School Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Academics of Newcastle University Academics of Nottingham Trent University English art critics English male journalists Financial Times people The Observer people