William (Bill) Papas

"If a picture is worth a thousand words, these evocative watercolor and pen drawings of the Old City and its people are priceless."  
Hadassah Magazine,
New York		  
   
"He, Papas, is a highly distinguished and original artist, whose work, I firmly believe, is not only of significance of its time, but will make an important contribution to the journalistic history of that time."  
Alan Coren,
Editor, Punch Magazine, London		  
   
"Papas's pictures capture an eternal quality..."  
Demetra
Kessenides, Writer, Greek American Magazine		  
   
"Bill Papas (is) a man of many talents, a superb draftsman and one of the world's most distinguished editorial cartoonists."  
Harold Haydon,
Art Critic, Chicago Sun-Times		  
   


Artist Statement

I regard myself as an artist/reporter, a recorder of people, places and events. In 1947 I found myself sketching on the street corners of Cape Town and of war-ravished Europe. In 2000 I find myself doing the same thing in different parts of the world. It is a compulsion to record a passing moment. A sketchbook commands respect, a degree of awe and instant communication in a way a camera cannot. It is a passport to people. In Portland sullen street kids talk to me. In Egypt I had to emply someone to restrain the crowds that gathered to watch. In Guadaloupe a belligerent man threatened to smash my wife's camera but ran to fetch his child once I produced the sketchbook. In Italy construction workers abandoned their jobsite to pose for me. In Jerusalem, however, it took a week for me to be accepted by the wary inhabitants. Finally a child explained to another, "He's not Israeli/Palestinian/Greek, he's an artist, silly!" I am influenced by Daumier and Toulouse Lautrec. The drawing and the actual line are important for me. I obtain immense satisfation in realising a situation or movement with a simple pen stroke. I hope to be remembered as a chronicler, that viewers will look at a painting or sketch or cartoon of mine and will say, "Yes, that is right. That is how it was/is!"

 
1927 Born Ermelo, South Africa
1947 - 49 St. Martins & Beckenham Art Schools, London
1952 - 58 Artist Reporter, Cape Times, Drum Magazine, Johannesburg Star
1959 - 70 Political Cartoonist, Guardian, London
1960 - 65 Political Cartoonist, Sunday Times
1964/65 Runner up Kate Greenaway Medal
1966 - 71 Political Cartoonist, Punch Magazine
1971 - 1983 Lived in Greece
1978/79 Invited by Jerusalem Foundation to stay at Mishkenot Shaananim
1983 - 84 Lived in Geneva, Switzerland
1984 - 2000 Lived in Portland, Oregon, USA
2000 Died in Plane Crash, British Columbia


Selected Exhibitions
Portland:
Oregon Historical Society 1991
Ritz Carlton Hotel 1991
Chetwynd Stapylton 1991-2000
Los Angeles:
C.G. Rein Galleries 1989
Theofilos Gallery 1999
LA/91, LA/9 Arts Fair
Houston:
C.G. Rein Galleries 1987
Dowmunt Gallery 1980
Denver:
C.G. Rein Galleries 1987
National Portrait Gallery 1971
London:
Indian Tea Center 1968
Guardian Newspaper 2004, 2005
Minneapolis:
C.G. Rein Galleries 1987-90
Jerusalem:
Old City Museum 1981
Geneva:
Galerie Weber 1983
Washington DC:
Senate Office Building 1986
Khabarovsk:
Military Museum 1990
Chicago:
Grady Galleries 1984
Palm Springs:
Maxims Hotel 1987
Boston:
Maliotis Center 2003

 New York:
Foundation for Hellenic Culture 2003
Athens:
Gallerie Kourd 1983
Hellenic-American Institute 2004

Selected Commissions & Assignments

India 1967 Indian Tea Board (paintings & books)
Jerusalem 1978-79 Jerusalem Foundation (book)
Egypt, 1980 Collins Publishers (book)
Caribbean Islands, 1982 Sun Line Cruises (brochures)
Palm Springs, 1986 Palm Springs Life (articles)
Miami, 1987 Florida Magazine (articles)
Chigasaki, Japan, 1996 Shonan Sai Festival (posters & original art)
Portland 1997/1998 Artist for Nike Grand Master Games (poster, publicity)
Portland 1999 Emanual Hospital (painting)
Portland 1999 Greenbriar Inc (paintings)
Palm Springs, Palm Beach 1999 Polo America (posters, cards, publicity)


Collections, Bibliography:

MM