Jeremy Danziger obituary

My stepfather, Jeremy Danziger, who has died aged 75, was an artist, sculptor and proud stalwart of the 20th-century art school. Faced with the rise of conceptualism, he stressed the importance of learning the fundamentals of mark-making, perspective and drawing from life. His own work, while largely abstract, was founded on these qualities.

Jeremy was interested in producing art based on experiments in mathematical probability and chance. Geometry was an obsession. He frequently made his own compasses and tools, and was partial to using collage in both two and three dimensions. His drawings typically developed as series, so that interactions were generated between them.

Art was in Jeremy’s blood. His father, Yitzhak Danziger , an Israeli sculptor, met his mother, Marion (nee Edie), at the Slade School of Art in London. Born in London, Jeremy grew up in Sussex and attended Bedales school near Petersfield in Hampshire. On finishing school in 1967, he followed in his parents’ footsteps – and in those of his stepfather, Marcus Lyon, a graduate of Chelsea School of Art who served in the Special Operations Executive in the second world war.

Jeremy completed his foundation course at Brighton School of Art before studying sculpture and drawing at Camberwell College of Arts, then completing a postgraduate degree in printmaking at Goldsmiths.

In 1975 he took a job as a lecturer at Reigate School of Art, where he later became head of foundation. From 1991 to 2000 he was a lecturer in drawing, fine art and 3D design at Camberwell, before lecturing at Richmond American International University, teaching on its undergraduate courses in ceramics, drawing, printmaking and spatial design until 2008. He also had a guest lectureship at Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art.

Jeremy taught at the University for the Creative Arts from 2004 until the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. His students were receptive to his hands-on approach and respected him for his considerable knowledge of the history and language of art. He was teaching online adult education classes just six weeks before his death from heart failure.

Jeremy exhibited his artwork widely, including in London at Cork Street and the Mall Galleries; Chapel Row, Bath; and Studio San Giuseppe in Cincinnati. Contemplative, sensitive and talented, he was happiest when with his family.

His first marriage, to Sue, ended in divorce in 1992. He married my mother, Amanda (nee Short), an artist and illustrator whom he met at Reigate, in 1995.

He is survived by Amanda, me and my sister, Daisy, and by a daughter, Leigh, from his first marriage. A son from his first marriage, Paul, died in a car accident at the age of 26.