anthony green Anthony Green

Dart Mariner Race Day

Rush of Cold Air

Festival by the Sea

Cirque de Marquee

I'm privileged to have counted Tony Green among the people I've known.
He was an inspiration and example to the often fragmented and unfocused arts scene in South Devon.
The co-founder of C Visual Arts and of the Torbay Visual Art Festival, Tony proved that if you fought hard enough you could make fruit grow from infertile soil.

Not only was he an accomplished artist in his own right, he was also a tireless campaigner for the arts who was forever cajoling and encouraging, spreading the word about the crucial role the arts play in civilised society.

Tony was born in Harrow in July 1939, one of six children.
He grew up in London but in his early 20s came to Torbay, where he fell in love with the place, and with local girl Megan Mills.

An interest in painting and sculpture regularly took him to St Ives, where the thriving art scene inspired him in his own work, which he created when he wasn't painting and decorating or labouring.

But it wasn't until Tony went to Exeter Open College in 1990 that his talent was fully recognised. Tony's tutor Nick Eastwood was so impressed that he entered Tony's work for the Lady Sacha Young Prize, administered by the prestigious St Martin's College of Art. Tony won.

Having spent most of his adult life in Torbay, in 1998 Tony moved with Megan to Dartmouth, where he indulged his love of painting the River Dart.

Tony's style could vary from impressionistic landscapes to strongly abstracted and richly coloured canvases. Both found favour: his images of the Dart sold well in galleries in South Devon, while for a number of years he exhibited the full range of his work at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, where his pieces were snapped up.

Tony always encouraged talent and was an enthusiastic participant in community initiatives. Having designed the now legendary production of the Torbay Tempest from an empty unit in Fleet Walk, he turned it into a gallery for new work and would encourage students from Dartington College, among others, to exhibit there.

His biggest achievement, which grew from the C Visual Arts co-operative formed in 1999, was the Torbay Visual Art Festival, which has been running now for four years and which has a reputation for showcasing the huge variety of work which artists from South Devon and further afield are creating.

Tony was a firebrand until the end. Despite being ravaged by prostate and then bone cancer, he still took on a leading role in organising this year's Art Festival at the Spanish Barn, and also collected work he'd created, spanning four decades, for a more recent retrospective exhibition.

Tony died peacefully, aged 64, at Torbay Hospital last Monday(1st December 2003), his family by his bedside. He leaves his wife Megan, daughter Sarah and son Mark, as well as three much-loved grandchildren.
Sarah told OTT: "My father was and always will be, in my mind, an angry young man.
"He never understood mediocrity and never accepted it.
"If you weren't passionate about something then why be here.
"He could be scary sometimes, but in his art and in his heart he would want people around him to appreciate and experience vibrancy and texture.

"Quality of life was everything to him: a swim in the sea, good food, music and most important of all, his family.
"We once wrote a screenplay together entitled Don't Die Wondering. I think it's a fitting epitaph.
"He's been an inspiration to me and all those around him. We must celebrate his life and follow our dreams.
"He will be sorely, sorely missed."

JOHN CLAMP – HERALD EXPRESS, DECEMBER 2003

Anthony Green died of cancer on 1st December 2003.

View my website http://theanthonygreengallery.co.uk/