Mary Fedden was born in Bristol in 1915. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London from 1932 to 1936. She went on to teach Painting at the Royal College of Art from 1958 to 1964, the first woman tutor to teach in the Painting School. Fedden has exhibited in solo shows throughout the UK every year since 1950. These included the Redfern Gallery, London from 1953, the New Grafton Gallery, London from the 1960s, the Hamet Gallery from 1970, the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol and at the Beaux Arts Gallery, London in the 1990s. A major exhibition of her work was held at the Royal West of England Academy in 1996. She has worked from her studio on the Thames in London for the past 50 years. She is one of Britain's most respected and collectable artists and has produced some of her finest work during the past decade. She is the widow of fellow artist, Julian Trevelyan.