Guy Roddon was a British painter. Born in London in 1919, Roddon began his artistic training in 1937 at Goldsmiths College of Art before studying at the Byam Shaw School of Art between the years 1939 – 1940. During the Second World War the artist served in the ‘Camouflage Unit’ where his talents were put to use disguising and concealing objects in camouflage alongside many of his artistic contemporaries. Following the War, Roddon turned his focus to painting in earnest. He set up a studio in 1949 from which he made his name painting society portraits. The artist was an accomplished portraitist, and was commissioned to paint several significant public figures such as Michael Ramsay, Archbishop of Canterbury. During this time Roddon exhibited at the Royal Academy, and participated in several collective shows with the London Group. Alongside his successful professional career, the artist served as a teacher for many years. Roddon lectured regularly at Goldsmiths College, his alma mater, and held a position at the Brighton College of Art. In 1979 Roddon published a technical guide to working in pastels.

Though portraiture first made Roddon’s name in the artistic circles of London, the artist’s later work focused much more on the landscape of his surroundings. He enjoyed travelling and worked for some time in North Africa as well as in America, where he was artist-in-residence at the University of North California. The artist also travelled frequently in Europe and had a particular affinity for France. Roddon spent several years of his career regularly visiting Paris and the Côte d’Azur, where he lived for a number of years, producing much of his work in the country. The artist died in 2006. His work remains in a number of collections throughout Britain, including the Imperial War Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, London.