Virtually self-taught, Campbell began painting in Belfast in the early 1940’s. In 1944, he held a joint exhibition in the Mol Gallery, Belfast, with his Brother, Arthur Campbell. He also exhibited that year with Gerard Dillon. He first exhibited at the RHA in 1947, and contributed almost 100 works over the next thirty years. He travelled around Europe in 1950 and in 1951, first visiting Spain, where he would return nearly every year. The Watercolour Society of Ireland elected him a member in 1954. He died in May 1979 in Dublin.?