My friend Tony Knipe, who has died aged 80, was a painter, curator and teacher who made an important contribution to visual arts in the north-east of England.
Born in Swansea, he was the son of John Knipe, a sergeant major in the army, and Olwen (nee Goodwin), a shop manager. He attended Clevedon college in Swansea before joining the merchant navy – but left after becoming ill during the 1957-58 Asian flu pandemic, suffering bouts of pneumonia, and then having to have part of his left lung removed.
