“Crucifixion” – painted in 1960 by William Edward Narraway

My father was born in London in 1915, although his early childhood was spent in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Always passionate to paint and draw from a very early age, Dad was awarded a place at art school; but it could not be afforded, and in the mid-1930s he moved to London to work.

In his own words: “I was rather hungry for a while, I did everything, designing anything people would pay me for. It was stage scenery for a while, book illustrating and designing for advertising. In the evenings I would draw and paint from life in St Martin’s Art School.”

Following the war, he became a successful freelance commercial artist, including cover illustrations for the John Bull magazine and illustrating a number of books. Alongside commercial art work, he also produced landscapes and observational works, being first selected for the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1942.

Dad married my mother, Olive, in the final year of the war, and they settled in Holmbury St Mary in the Surrey Hills, where he became embedded in village life, building their house overlooking the green.  He lent his considerable talents and enthusiasm to village life: captaining the village cricket team for 16 years and designing the pavilion – still standing; leading the local bonfire association; singing in the choral society; and performing in village Victorian Extravaganza shows.

Towards the end of the 1950s he decided to focus on his passion for portraiture, and by the time he died in 1979 he had built a reputation as a significant post war portrait artist and sculptor, well established among the top flight of his generation of portrait artists. He was known for his commissions of the British Royal family (completing five paintings of Queen Elizabeth II), as well as business leaders, well-known musicians and actors, and senior church, military and academic figures.

Dad enjoyed meeting people in all walks of life, from the local lengthsman to the Queen; he was generally among the last to leave parties and receptions. When painting, “I always talk to my sitters – there has to be a line of communication to bring out the life force, to make the face alive.” It was unsurprising that many of his sitters became family friends.

Dad produced two religious paintings that I know of, reflecting his faith and beliefs. In 1948, a vision of humanity, “We of this Earth”, a central figure rising from the earth reaches up through Easter and the church on one side; figures descending into a stygian gloom on the other – the plight of humanity.

The “Crucifixion”, painted in 1960, is monochrome, sombre and oppressive. In the soldiers at the foot of the Cross, it encapsulates the weary despair and hopelessness of those bearing witness to the death of Jesus. Dad objected strongly to the killing of any living thing and this painting seems to say “This is what happens when we go to war; humanity crucifies Him again”.

The purpose of all paintings is to be seen, and I am delighted and most grateful that Dad’s “Crucifixion” will be shown (in its first outing, I believe) in your church. It also seems appropriate that it is in Chelsea, Dad having been elected a member of the Chelsea Arts Club in 1960.

Contributed by his surviving son, Nicholas Narraway