Painter and teacher, born in London, son of John Mortimer Napper, painter and illustrator. He studied at Royal Academy Schools, 1933–4, then was a pupil of Gerald Kelly, 1936–8. After being a war artist to the Ceylon Command, 1943–4, Napper taught life painting at St Martin’s School of Art, 1949–57, then lived in France until 1968. From 1968–9 Napper was visiting professor of fine arts at University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale, then in 1971 he moved to Shropshire, settling at Bromfield, near Ludlow. Napper said that his work was about understanding space and the organisation of spatial relationships. Notable among his later works was a series based on an Aga stove and utensils around it. Napper showed at RA from 1942, in British Painting 1925–50, Arts Council in 1951, and abroad.
Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)