Alex Leith is Chair of the Critics’ Circle Visual Arts section, and in 2024 will be President of the Circle. An author and journalist with some thirty years’ experience under his belt, he is currently the editor for the Review of Sussex Arts and British Art News. Specialising in modern and contemporary British art, he has authored several books and contributed articles to national press titles such as the Observer, the Guardian and The Times. He lives in East Sussex. Born in 1944, Susan Ryder began painting professionally at an early age. She was much encouraged by her father, Robert Ryder VC, who was an enthusiastic amateur painter. In 1960 Susan was accepted to the Byam Shaw School of Art. In 1982 she was elected a member of the New English Arts Club and in 1992 was elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.