Lot 69: HEATH-STUBBS, JOHN (b. 1918, poet, playwright and critic)

PORTRAIT BY PETER EDWARDS (b. 1955),
oil on canvas, head and shoulders, inscribed and signed on the verso by the artist 'J. H-S Pete Edwards', National Portrait Gallery exhibition label on verso, 17½ x 13½ in (44.5 x 34.3 cm).

PROVENANCE: Acquired from the artist.

EXHIBITED: National Portrait Gallery, Contemporary Poets, 1990; Burnley; Cheltenham; Belfast; Wrexham; Exeter; Cork; Kingston-on-Hull; Bristol; St. Andrews, Nottingham.

This is a fine oil study for the final full-length portrait in the National Portrait Gallery. John Heath-Stubbs, blind since 1978, is noted for his own poetry and for his translations of Middle Eastern and classical works.

Peter Edwards writes: 'Painted in John's Paddington flat. I remember looking at some family portraits he kept behind a wardrobe. There was no need to keep them on the wall as he remembered them from before he lost his sight. Once I painted too quietly - he nodded off and then forgot I was there. When he woke up he got a fright when I coughed.'