Thomas Bewick of Newcastle

Thomas Bewick of Newcastle: jobbing engraver and genius, renowned from the late 18th century onwards as the author/illustrator of History of British Birds and General History of Quadrupeds, inspiration of John Ruskin and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. His 'tail-pieces', vignettes of rural life, in humble circumstances and all weathers, make him, in miniature, the Tynedale Bruegel, the Geordie Hogarth.

William Feaver, for many years the art critic for The Observer, is also a painter and has been the curator of exhibitions ranging from George Cruikshank at the V&A to the Tate retrospectives of Michael Andrews and Lucian Freud (the subject of his most recent book) as well as Constable: Selection by Lucien Freud at the Grand Palais, Paris in 2003. His book Pitmen Painters was recently adapted by Lee Hall for an award-winning play and he is at present organising an exhibition in Vienna titled When We Were Young, a study of children's book illustration. His book, Frank Auerbach, was published in 2009 and he is currently completing volume two of his Lucian Freud biography.