JOHN
PAPWORTH,
London
1996.
Acrylic
on
canvas.
Private
collection.
The
Papworth
children
commissioned
this
portrait
for
their
father's
75th
birthday.
He
sat
for
it
at
his
desk
in
St.
John's
Wood,
surrounded
by
personal
memorabilia.
John,
an
idiosyncratic
Anglican
minister,
is
the
founder,
editor
and
indefatigable
voice-in-the-wilderness
of
Fourth
World
Review,
the
green
book
on
the
desk.
He
is
an
extraordinary
individual
for
whom
I have
great
respect
and
affection.
The
sadness
in
his
eyes
was
no
doubt
due
to
the
state
of
what
he
calls
'our
world
in
crisis'.
I see
in
him
an
Old
Testament
prophet
for
our
time.
At
gatherings
of
friends
he
is
wont
to
recite
entire
passages
from
Shakespeare
so
I'll
add
a relevant
quote:
“Yea,
this
man's
brow,
like
to
a title-leaf,
Foretells
the
nature
of
a tragic
volume.”
(Henry
IV)
©copyright Natalie d'Arbeloff 2002