Albert Irvin was born in Bermondsey in London and moved as a young child to the north of the city. He was evacuated from there at the start of the second world war, during which time he went to Northampton Art School. His studies were interrupted by the war and had to take up service in the armed forces, which he did, as a navigator in the RAF. He continued his art studies at Goldsmiths College after the war and returned there to teach between 1962 and 1983. He exhibited regularly at his London gallery and was awarded a Travel Award to America by the Arts Council in 1968, later receiving an Arts Council Major Award. A retrospective of his work was held at the Serpentine Gallery in 1990 and he was elected a Royal Academician in 1998.
