Peter Coker was born in London in 1926 and studied at the RCA, winning the Royal Scholarship in 1951. He won a scholarship to the British Institution three years later. Between 1954 and 1973 Coker taught at St Martin's School of Art. He became associated with Bratby and the Kitchen Sink School and had a string of shows at the Zwemmer Gallery. In 1962 he participtated in the Arts Council Touring Exhibition and a trip to East Anglia transferred his focus from the stark Kitchen Sink subject matter of butcher's shops to landscape. Structure, texture and movement became key notes of Coker's subject matter covering Scotland and East Anglia. Coker was elected RA in 1972.