Biography
John Napper (b. London 1916 - d. 2001) studied at Dundee College of Art (1930-33) and at the Royal Academy Schools (1933-34), and privately with Gerald Kelly (1879-1972), between 1936-38. After being a war artist to the Ceylon Command, during 1943–44, Napper taught life painting at St Martin’s School of Art, 1949–57 and then lived in France until 1968. From 1968–9 Napper was visiting professor of fine arts at University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale, then in 1971 he moved to Shropshire, settling at Bromfield, near Ludlow. Napper said that his work was about understanding space and the organisation of spatial relationships. Notable among his later works was a series based on an Aga stove and utensils around it. Napper showed at the Royal Academy from 1942, in British Painting 1925–50, Arts Council in 1951, and abroad. His long series of solo exhibitions began with Leicester Galleries from 1949 and included a series at Larcada Gallery, New York, from 1967. There were retrospectives at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1959; Oldham Art Gallery, 1984, and Colnaghi, 1996. Agnew's gave him a watercolour first show in 1986. Among his awards was a Silver Medal at Paris Salon, 1947; Moscow, International Exhibition of Fine Arts, 1957; and Critics’ Prize, International Association of Art Critics, London, 1961. British Museum, Walker Art Gallery and many other public galleries in Britain and abroad hold examples.
