- 145
PAPAS, 'THE PRODIGAL SON'S FATHER', INK, 1966
Estimate
400 - 600 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- William Papas
- ‘The Prodigal Son’s Father’
254 by 318mm., pen and ink, signed, mounted, framed and glazed, some creases
Literature
Guardian, 5 December 1966
Catalogue Note
On 11 November 1965, the Prime Minister of Rhodesia, Ian Smith, signed a Unilateral Declaration of Independence, separating Rhodesia from British control. This decision followed a year of failed negotiations between the two countries. Smith had accepted that independence terms would need to be based upon a majority opinion, however when he declared that decisive backing from a largely white referendum and a conference of tribal chiefs for independence demonstrated this, the UK government and black nationalists within Rhodesia dismissed the tribal conference as insufficiently representative of the black community. After visits by Smith to London and by Wilson to Salisbury, Rhodesia in October 1965 both failed to progress the possibility of independence, the UDI was signed a few weeks later, much to the dismay of the British government and much of the International community.
Harold Wilson had initially declared in January 1966 in the House of Commons that he would not enter into talks of any kind with Smith’s Post-UDI government, however as the year progressed, his stance softened and by November he had agreed to meet with Ian Smith to discuss the situation. William Papas’s cartoon was published the day after the first meeting between Wilson and Smith, following the signing of the UDI. This meeting took place between 2 and 4 December 1966 aboard the HMS Tiger, off the coast of Gibraltar. Harold Wilson sits awaiting the return of the ‘Prodigal Son’, Ian Smith, who, following tense negotiations aboard the HMS Tiger, had signed a working document which was to be accepted or rejected by his Cabinet on his return to Rhodesia. Papas’s cartoon suggests a belief that Wilson, with the strength of African opinion by his side, would be waiting in vain for a positive return by Smith. This would be proved correct, as though the document was accepted by Whitehall, Smith’s Cabinet in Salisbury rejected the terms.
Harold Wilson had initially declared in January 1966 in the House of Commons that he would not enter into talks of any kind with Smith’s Post-UDI government, however as the year progressed, his stance softened and by November he had agreed to meet with Ian Smith to discuss the situation. William Papas’s cartoon was published the day after the first meeting between Wilson and Smith, following the signing of the UDI. This meeting took place between 2 and 4 December 1966 aboard the HMS Tiger, off the coast of Gibraltar. Harold Wilson sits awaiting the return of the ‘Prodigal Son’, Ian Smith, who, following tense negotiations aboard the HMS Tiger, had signed a working document which was to be accepted or rejected by his Cabinet on his return to Rhodesia. Papas’s cartoon suggests a belief that Wilson, with the strength of African opinion by his side, would be waiting in vain for a positive return by Smith. This would be proved correct, as though the document was accepted by Whitehall, Smith’s Cabinet in Salisbury rejected the terms.