Robert Norman Hepple NEAC RA RP (18 May 1908 - 3 January 1994) was an English portrait painter, engraver and sculptor, best known for his portraits of the British royal family. He was elected a member of the NEAC in 1951, and to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1948, serving as their president from 1979 to 1983. Elected an Associate Member to the RA in 1954, Hepple became an Academician in 1961.
Early life
Hepple was born in London and was the son of the painter Robert Watkin Hepple and the nephew of Wilson Hepple, an animal painter. Hepple studied at Goldsmiths College of Art and then the Royal Academy Schools, under Sir Walter Russell, where he obtained a scholarship in engraving. During the 1930s, Hepple illustrated the books of the Shropshire novelist Mary Webb.
World War II
At the start of the Second World War, Hepple joined the Auxiliary Fire Service which in 1941 became the National Fire Service (NFS) and served as a firefighter during the London blitz. A number of other artists had joined the NFS and a firemen artists' committee had been formed which included Leonard Rosoman, Bernard Hailstone, Paul Lucien Dessau and Robert Coram.
As well as contributing to both War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC) and specialist civil defence art shows, the firemen held several of their own exhibitions. WAAC initially purchased two paintings by Hepple, one in 1940 and another in 1941. In 1943, WAAC commissioned a series of drawings from Hepple of NFS personnel and were to purchase another five paintings, including a fine portrait of a Canadian firefighter, from him before the war ended. At least one painting by Hepple was included in the firemen artists' exhibitions that toured America during the war.
Post-war career
After the war, Hepple resumed his career as a professional artist. In 1950, he designed a poster for British Railways, Service to Industry and Shipbuilding. He painted portraits of Queen Elizabeth II on three occasions: in 1965 for the Royal Marines, in 1978 for the island of Jersey and also in 1978 for the submarine officers of HMS Dolphin. He painted notable portraits of Prince Charles, Prince Philip and the Queen Mother, who sat for him for four separate commissions.
His 1978 portrait of Queen Elizabeth was adapted for use on banknotes issued in Jersey. The portrait of The Queen was copied from a painting by Norman Hepple and it is one of very few engraved images of Her Majesty to have been copied from a painting. The portrait, which shows Her Majesty attired in the regalia of the Order of the Garter, was commissioned by the States of Jersey. The original painting of Her Majesty hangs in the entrance to the Jersey States Chamber in the States Building, St. Helier, Jersey.
Failing eyesight eventually curtailed his painting career. He died from injuries he received after being run over by a car whilst returning to his home in Richmond in London from a meeting at the Royal Academy.
Collections
All souls College, Oxford, Oxford University
Birkbeck University of London
Council House, Bristol City Council, UK
County Hall, Leicestershire County Council Civic Collection, UK
Ebbw Vale Works Archive Trust, UK
Guildhall Art Gallery, London
Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow
Knaresborough House, Yorkshire, UK
National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH Arts
National Portrait Gallery, London
Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend Museum, UK
Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge
County Hall Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK
Defence Academy of The United Kingdom
Girton College, university of Cambridge, UK
Guy's Campus, Guy's & St. Thomas' Foundation
Jaquar Daimler Heritage Trust, UK
Leeds General Infirmary, UK
National Museum Wales, National Museum Cardiff
National Railway Museum, York, Yorkshire, UK
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Jersey States Chamber in the States Building, St. Helier, Jersey
This is an edited version of Norman Hepple's Wikipedia biography.
You can find out more and view a selection of his work on his ArtUK website page.
Header image credits (left to right):
1. "Queen Elizabeth II" £5 postage stamp featuring artwork by Norman Hepple, © Jersey Post 1983
2. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (b.1926) by Norman Hepple (1908–1994), Royal Court House, Jersey, © the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Photo credit: Jersey Heritage”
3. Elizabeth II (b.1926) by Norman Hepple (1908–1994), Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, © the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Photo credit: Jersey Heritage
4. Source: http://www.pjsymes.com.au/qe2/QE2-19.htm - image based on Elizabeth II (b.1926) by Norman Hepple (1908–1994). See image 3.