Painter and designer, born in London, son of the pianist Harold Craxton. When only 10, he had paintings exhibited in schools group at Bloomsbury Gallery. In 1939 studied life drawing at L’Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, Paris, returning to study in 1940 at Westminster School of Art and Central School of Art with P F Millard and Eric Schilsky.

The following year he studied drawing at Goldsmith’s College School of Art with Clive Gardiner. About this time Craxton was friendly with Graham Sutherland and Lucian Freud and became recognised as a member of the Neo-Romantic group of painters. He had his first solo show at Leicester Galleries, 1944. In 1946 Craxton visited Greece for the first time, whose landscape was eventually to leave its mark on his work. After a joint show with Lucien Freud at the London Gallery in 1947, with whom he had worked in Greece, in 1948 Craxton visited Crete for the first time; in 1960 he rented a house there in Hania which subsequently became his home, although Craxton was an indefatigable traveller in several continents. In 1951 Craxton designed sets and costumes for Daphnis and Chloe at Covent Garden; in 1966 he helped restage it for Athens Festival and completed designs for the ballet Apollo at Covent Garden. Between 1971-4 worked on Landscape with the Elements as the Cottrell Memorial Tapestry for the McRobert Centre, Stirling University. Craxton had s retrospective show at Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1967 and in 1985 a show of paintings and drawings appeared at the Chrysostomos Gallery, Hania; British Council, Athens; and Christopher Hull Gallery. The Tate Gallery and other major collections hold his work. Elected RA, 1993.