William Narraway (1915-1979)

               William Edward Narraway was a distinguished British portrait painter and sculptor, renowned for his depictions of prominent figures, including members of the British royal family, musicians, and academics. He was born in London but spent his early years in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where he developed an early interest in sketching. Although he was awarded a place at an art school, family circumstances prevented him from attending. In the mid-1930s, he moved to London to work, joining a commercial studio in the Strand, where he met and formed a lifelong friendship with the artist Lewis Lupton (1909-1996). During this period, he engaged in various artistic endeavors, including stage scenery, book illustrating, and designing for advertising. In the evenings, he would draw and paint from life at St Martin’s Art School. During World War II, Narraway served as an agricultural worker. Despite the challenges of the war years, he continued to paint landscapes and observational works, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy from 1942. He married in 1945 and started a family in Holmbury St Mary in the Surrey Hills, where he became embedded in village life.

His successful artistic career was established largely based on his portraits. He was known for his warm and engaging personality and this informed his approach to portraiture which was deeply personal; he believed in establishing a line of communication with his sitters throughout the process to bring out the "life force" in their likenesses. While Narraway's portraits are formally composed, they are never stiff. His work is distinguished by a genuine effort to capture the inner life of his subjects, whether royalty, musicians, actors, or academics. He was praised for imbuing his sitters with vitality and dignity, making his portraits feel both respectful and intimate. His compositions typically followed the conventions of traditional portraiture, including carefully balanced poses, subtle lighting, and minimal but purposeful backgrounds. The sitters are often shown three-quarter length or full-figure, dressed formally, and set against softly neutral or architectural backdrops. He paid particular attention to hands, posture, and costume: elements that convey status and personality.

Stylistically his work is characterized by a blend of realism and expressive detail. His artistic practice was firmly rooted in classical portraiture, marked by technical precision, compositional clarity, and a deep psychological sensitivity to his subjects. Working primarily in oil, and occasionally in sculpture, his fidelity to anatomical accuracy and nuanced rendering of textures, especially skin, fabric, and hair, reflect rigorous technical training, even though he was largely self-taught in his early years. His realistic, representational style is reminiscent of nineteenth century academic portraiture, shaped more by academic and Edwardian traditions than by modernism. He continued the lineage of British portrait artists such as Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) and Philip de László (1869-1937), emphasizing craftsmanship, respect for the sitter, and longevity over the stylistic experimentation which characterised many of his avant-garde contemporaries. Grounded in tradition, with subtle personal flair, his work stands as a lasting testament to the value of representational portraiture in the twentieth century.