Self-taught painter, born in Cheshire the son of a photographer, who aged five moved with his family to Paris where he became fascinated with its vigorous artistic scene. Clifford-Smith’s earliest works, mainly religious portraits influenced by the work of Georges Rouault, date from the 1940s. He became a professional painter after World War II and with his wife, the artist and designer Joan Glass, moved to Bucks House, Great Bardfield, once home to Eric Ravilious. There, Clifford-Smith produced monumental landscapes of Britain, Ireland and Italy while organising nationally acclaimed exhibitions in artists’ homes, avoiding involvement with commercial galleries, of which he was suspicious. Edward Bawden, George Chapman, Audrey Cruddas, Walter Hoyle, Sheila Robinson, Michael Rothenstein and Kenneth Rowntree were closely involved.