Simon was born in London in 1946, the son of Jewish emigres who had fled Nazi Germany. Although interested in art he had decided to become a barrister and practised at the Criminal Bar until 2000. By then painting had become an all consuming passion which he wanted to devote all his energy to.

Simon soon found his voice, paintings based on his imagination and memory, partly reflecting his earlier life in post war London but always reflecting his interest in the human condition expressed in a slightly unreal form. Whether still life, urban scenes or genre scenes, all imagined but rooted somewhere in reality and all permitting the viewer to attempt to complete the unfinished stories he tells.

Since 2000 his work has been exhibited in solo and mixed exhibitions in London, in the UK and, more recently, in Spain and at numerous major art fairs.  

In 2004 he was elected an Academician of the Royal West of England Academy going on to become its Academicians' Chairman and then President. Simon is also an elected member of the New English Art Club.

His work is in numerous private collections both in the UK and abroad.