A GWENT artist who is hailed as one of the best of his generation will be celebrated at a new exhibition – the first since he died.

Roger Cecil was born in Abertillery and taught art in Ebbw Vale in the 1990s after studying in Newport and at Central St Martins in London.

His decision to reject the opportunity to study at the Royal College of Art was such a rare move the BBC made a documentary about him, Quiet Rebel, in 1964.

A new exhibition, The Gifts, opens on September 12 and showcases paintings given away by him.

He never painted with an eye for profit – even working on building sites to supplement his income from sales.

But he was a highly respected artist who was described as the top painter in Wales at the 2010 National Eisteddfod in Ebbw Vale by curator Mary Lloyd Jones.

After Mr Cecil died from hypothermia after getting lost on the way home from a hospital appointment in February, friends and family came together to create the exhibition.

Its curator Chris Griffin said: “The show has turned into a mini retrospective because we’ve got everything from early work right up to recent work. They range from quite small postcard sized pieces up to four foot canvases.

“Like many artists before him, Roger explored the themes of the human condition and man’s relationship to his environment, creating in this pursuit, his own idiosyncratic and rich visual language. He was a natural artist/maker with an unerring sense of colour, line and scale, often making even his smallest work intricate yet at the same time monumental.

“This exhibition is a tribute to his obvious talent as an artist but also it is a recognition of his extraordinary generosity as a man. He loved to share and this exhibition consists entirely of work that he gave to his family and friends. His art was often his currency and for the smallest favour he would give, in return, a piece of artwork from his most recent assortment of creations. Sometimes, however, his gifts were for nothing other than a wish to share his joy of making.”

He added: “He was in a sense naïve but also very sophisticated visually. He had outstanding visual intelligence – it’s not that it came easily to him, but he had an uncanny way of dealing with visual images that is quite unique.”

The exhibition will be held at Oriel Canfas on Glamorgan Street in Cardiff from September 12 until October 3.