William Edwin 'Wep' Pidgeon, cartoonist, illustrator and painter was born in Paddington and studied art at the JS Watkins School and East Sydney Technical College. At 16 he became a cadet artist on the Sydney Evening News, later working for the Daily Guardian, the Sun, the World and Smith's Weekly, and making his name with illustrations and humorous cartoons published in the Australian Women's Weekly. He also illustrated books and drew cartoons for the Daily Telegraph, where he was the regular art critic. Pidgeon became well known as a portrait painter, entering the Archibald Prize consistently between 1949 and the 1970s and winning it three times - in 1958, 1961, and in 1968 with a portrait of his friend and neighbour Lloyd Rees. Examples of Pidgeon's work are held in the collections of the AGNSW, AGWA, AWM, SLNSW and private collections.
