William Feaver (b. 1942, Stratford-sub-Castle, Wiltshire, England) lives and works between Northumberland and London. He read History at the University of Oxford and was awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship at Newcastle University.

Solo exhibitions include Berwick Watchtower Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed (2013); University Gallery, Northumbria University, Newcastle (2010); Piers Feetham Gallery, London (2005); and Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham (2004, 1998). He has participated in group exhibitions at the Mall Galleries, London (2018) and Cadogan Contemporary, London (1992), among others.

He has written, broadcast and lectured extensively on art. He was chief art critic at The Observer (1975–98), having previously written for the Financial Times, The Listener, and Newcastle Journal. Publications include, most recently, a two-volume biography of Lucian Freud, The Lives of Lucian Freud: Youth 1922–1968 (Bloomsbury, 2019) and Fame 1968–2011 (Bloomsbury, 2020), besides the monographs Frank Auerbach (Rizzoli, 2009) and Lucian Freud (Rizzoli, 2007). Further works include The Art of John Martin (Oxford University Press, 1975) and Pitmen Painters (Chatto & Windus, 1988), his critical biography of the Ashington Group, which was dramatized for the stage by Lee Hall and toured internationally.

Curatorial projects include major exhibitions of Lucian Freud at Museo Correr, Venice (2005); Wallace Collection, London (2004); Fundació “la Caixa,” Barcelona (2002); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2002); Tate Britain, London (2002); and Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal (1996). As well as retrospectives of Michael Andrews, Tate Britain (2001), the Ashington Group, Beijing and touring China (1980), and Ian Stephenson, Hayward Gallery, London (1977), he curated “Auerbach and Freud at the V&A: New Paintings,” Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2006); “Constable: Le Choix de Lucian Freud,” Grand Palais, Paris (2002); “Peter Moores,” Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (1983, 1985); and “Thirties: British Art and Design Before the War,” Hayward Gallery (1979), among many others.

Teaching includes the Royal Drawing School, London and a visiting professorship at Nottingham Trent University. He is a founding Trustee of the Ashington Group.