I am a painter, and in addition to living off the sale of my paintings, since 1966 (when I left art school) I have supported myself as an art historian and lecturer on art. A number of my paintings and prints are in various public and private collections. Being something of an authority on Britain's greatest painter, J.M.W.Turner, I am the author of nine bestselling books and catalogues on the artist; a Vice-President of the Turner Society and its current Chairman; and the Founding Editor of Turner Studies, a scholarly journal published by the Tate Gallery between 1980 and 1991. I have frequently contributed articles on Turner to specialist and popular journals and newspapers. In 1996-7 I was appointed a Nuclear Magnox Turner Scholar at the Clore Gallery for the Turner Collection, which period of research resulted in the exhibition 'Turner's Watercolour Explorations' held at the Tate Gallery in 1997. I was invited to curate the major exhibition 'Turner: The Great Watercolours' held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 2000-2001 to mark the 150th anniversary of Turner's death. I also curated the 'Golden Age of Watercolours' exhibition held at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London; the Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham; and at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut.

Because I am a contemporary painter who taught the history of modern and contemporary art for many years after 1966, I have naturally always been interested in modern artists. Accordingly I have written a book on the great Romanian sculptor, Constantin Brancusi, who is a particular interest of mine. Further artists on whom I have written books include Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol and David Hockney. I have lectured all over the world, and am much in demand as a lecturer, due to my skills in communicating both my knowledge and enthusiasm for my subjects.