[5] An avid painter, he was undeterred by his failing vision and as such he continued to find new ways of seeing as his artistic career progressed.
[1] He was first educated at Dartington Hall School, where he developed a keen interest in maths, physics and sports, and was given his nickname.
[2] At 16, he moved to Oxford to become an apprentice in the Morris Motors factory, where his love for jazz led him to play in a band with Dudley Moore and others.
[8] Mann went on to teach at both Camberwell and the Camden Arts Centre until 1988 and his lessons focused on the transformative powers of light and colour.
[9] Mann moved to Tottenham Court Road in 1964, where he lived with a number of creative individuals who pushed his artistic boundaries.
[9] Early collectors of his work included Dame Iris Murdoch, Sir John Betjeman and Cecil Beaton.
In 1973, Mann exhibited at the Salisbury Festival of Arts, organized by Elizabeth Jane Howard and Geraint Jones.
Despite cataract surgery, retinal detachments and burst corneal ulcerations left one eye nearly blind, followed years later by a total loss of vision.
[6] Mann created form and composition through touch, employing strategically placed lumps of Blu-Tack and rubber bands to map out his canvases.
"[13] The colours featured in Mann's work reflect the stages of his changing vision and the effects of each eye operation.
[17] On 21 November 2010, reporter Tim Adams of The Observer wrote "Sargy Mann: the blind painter of Peckham".
[6] In March 2013, Laura Barber published an interview in Port Magazine, entitled "10,000 Hours: Sargy Mann".