Painter and teacher, born in Dorset. He studied at Bournemouth College of Art, 1958–60, and Royal College of Art, 1960–3. In 1963, Simpson won a travelling scholarship to the Soviet Union. He went on to be associate lecturer in painting at Bath College of Higher Education. Among mixed shows in which he participated were Northern Ireland Arts Council Open, in 1968, when he shared first prize; British Drawing at Hayward Gallery, 1982; and John Moores Exhibition, Liverpool, 1989, and in 1991–2, when he was a prizewinner. His first solo show was at Piccadilly Gallery in 1964, others including Serpentine Gallery, 1986, and Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, 1996. Hymn-song-psalm-prayer: bench paintings was at the Tithe Barn and Old Gasworks, Bradford-on-Avon, in 2005.