William Feaver (b. 1942, Stratford-sub-Castle, Wiltshire, England) is a British art critic, curator, painter, and author. Over the past five decades, he has played a significant role in shaping conversations around modern and contemporary art through his criticism—most notably as Chief Art Critic of the Observer—as well as through exhibitions organized across Europe, the United States, and China. His writings and curatorial work on figures such as Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach have received international recognition and inspired cultural works including Lee Hall’s celebrated play The Pitmen Painters.

Alongside his critical and curatorial practice, Feaver has maintained a painting practice for more than fifty years from his studio in the North East of England. His plein air landscapes depict the hills, fells, and expansive skies of the region across shifting seasons, from snow-covered valleys to dense summer greens. With affinities to the work of John Marin and Frank Auerbach, about whom he has written major biographies, Feaver’s paintings are marked by immediacy and close observation.