Known for his dramatic, evocative landscape works which often featured open water or sweeping vistas, Ackroyd was a senior fellow at the Royal College of Art, and had been a Royal Academician since 1991.

Born in Leeds, in 1938, Ackroyd studied at Leeds College of Art, before launching his career in London.

A prolific printer and watercolurist, Ackroyd worked largely in etching, producing a huge number of prints from his Bermondsey Street studio in South London, where he had worked since the 1980s.

Known for an extraordinary knowledge of analogue printing processes, his studio was filled with copper sheets and hot plates, with two large roller presses forming the centre of his etching factory.

Ackroyd was featured in many solo exhibitions in the UK and around the world, and was was highly sought after for mural commissions etched in stainless steel or bronze, including for the British Embassy in Moscow, Lloyds Bank’s headquarters in London, and British Airways at Birmingham Airport.

An educator for much of his life, Ackroyd was keenly aware of the need to support younger generations into the arts. In March 2024, he set up the Norman Ackroyd foundation alongside his daughter, composer Poppy Ackroyd, to offer financial support to students starting their careers in the visual arts, poetry or music.

The foundation will offer grants of £10,000 a year to three or four students throughout the duration of their course.

Ackroyd is survived by four children, and a body of art exhibited from New York to London for all to enjoy.