Painter, printmaker and teacher, born in Scarborough, Yorkshire. When he was in Army in World War II met the painter William Scott in Wales, then in 1946 enrolled as student at Bath Academy of Art. He was invited to join the staff and became an influential teacher. Married colleague, Valerie May. The work of Cliffe and his students was shown in a number of international exhibitions, such as Cincinnati International Lithography Exhibitions, 1954 and 1960, and at two Venice Biennales. Cliffe had first solo show of paintings at Redfern Gallery in 1956, and three years later his first one-man print show at St George’s Gallery. In 1960 Cliffe won first purchase prize at Philadelphia Print Club and in the following year gained a Ford Foundation Scholarship, Pratt Institute of Art, New York.