Gillian Ayres was born in London and studied at Camberwell School of Art from 1946–1950. She began exhibiting while still a student and had her first solo show in 1956. In 1960 and 1961 she was included in the two 'Situation' exhibitions in London which were devoted to large-scale abstract works inspired by the American Abstract Expressionist movement. Ayres had seen a photograph of Jackson Pollock working on canvases on the floor and decided to dispense with brushes to produce large gestural paintings in acrylic.

She developed an individual approach to colour which she manipulates to evoke different feelings and emotions. She turned from acrylic to oils, and brushes, in about 1978 and has created a recognisable style in which the physical character of the paint, applied in a heavy impasto, has an important role.