Published: 3 February, 2012

• I was so pleased to hear that you are highlighting a campaign for a commemorative plaque for Cyril Mann at Bevin Court, Finsbury.

It seems so appropriate to pay tribute to him at the place where he lived and worked.  

I have encountered his work only in recent years but have been moved and impressed by his passionate painting and his constant engagement with how to depict light. The early paintings in the bomb-damaged city are a unique and poignant account of place and the aftermath of war.  

It is good to know that the work is now getting the recognition it deserves and that his time at Bevin Court will be remembered.

I do hope the campaign succeeds.

Patricia Millner
NW3

• Despite the brightness of his sun, artist Cyril Mann is an edgy genius.

The human presence steps into the frame, turning its back on the night in which people have suffered and died.

Mann was acutely aware of the tragic elements that stalk the human experience and like a Dickens or a Tolstoy used pigments rather than words to embed these qualities in his work.

One cannot contemplate Mann’s canvases without being moved by his unique insight and unsettling concerns – nor indeed should one try to avoid the spiritual trauma generated by his probing mind.

To be disturbed by the searchlight of his vision is a deeply moving experience. Cyril Mann deserves to have a commemorative plaque to him erected at Bevin Court during the centenary year of his birth, and I fully support this proposal.

Gerald Moore
Painter, sculptor and author
Barnstaple, North Devon