1936 - 2003 Born Dublin. Father dies 1940. Brought up by mother and maternal grandparents in London and Brighton. His grandmother was a talented amateur painter of still life. 1946 Highgate School - art master was the Welsh landscapist R A, Kyffin Williams.  1958 entered the Slade; under the influence of William Coldstream, Keith Vaughan, William Townsend, Claude Rogers and Robert Medley, among others.  His painting developed in the dark figurative tradition which then held sway. 1962 graduated from the Slade and travelled to Italy and Greece in the company of the artist Michael Upton.  In the winter of 1962, he painted a number of large figures in a landscape which formed the first exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in 1963.  All the paintings were sold before the opening.  1964 exhibited in the first 'New Generation' show at the Whitechapel Gallery, selected by Bryan Robertson. 1965 second one-man show at the Redfern Gallery consisted of portraits and landscapes still far from realistic. The critics pointed to a supposed surreal influence from his contemporary and friend R B Kitaj.  First visit to USA in company with David Hockney, Norman Stevens and Colin Self. 1995 elected Royal Academician. Collections: Arts Council of Great Britain, Contemporary Art Society, Imperial War Museum, London, Los Angeles County Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, New College, Oxford, São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil, Tate Gallery, London, The Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas, USA, University of Leeds, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.