More than 100 people attended the launch of a tribute exhibition at Manchester Jewish Museum for artist Simon Black, who died, aged 49, last year after a battle against cancer.

The Reflections exhibition has given his family the opportunity to display his work in his home city after a similar event in London. Sunday’s opening was addressed by the artist’s widow Raina, eldest daughter Bobbi and his sister Jane.

Speaking afterwards, Jane Black said Mancunians would recognise much of the personal and local imagery in his paintings.

The exhibition was “a valuable opportunity to celebrate his talent, especially for people who knew him as a little boy.”

Simon Black grew up in Prestwich. He studied art in Manchester and Wolverhampton, returning to Manchester in the 1980s before moving to London, living in Muswell Hill before his death.

His works were exhibited nationwide and he was commissioned in 2002 to produce six major paintings for the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. As a board member of the Design and Artists Copyright Society, he campaigned for improved artists’ royalties.

The Manchester exhibition runs until March 5.