Graham Arnold was born in London in 1932. His father, an amateur artist, taught him drawing and painting from an early age and encouraged and guided him in his early education. Graham attended Beckenham School and the Royal College of Art. He won scholarships to Rome where he painted and studied for two years. He exhibited in London and taught part time at Beckenham School of Art, the Royal Academy Schools and Ravensbourne. He lectured on the history of art, promoting painters such as Stanley Spencer, who were unfashionable at the time. He was a founder member of the Brotherhood of Ruralists which was formed in 1975 with seven other artists including Peter Blake, David Inshaw and Annie Ovenden. They exhibited together until 1983 when the group started to fragment. Graham Arnold, his wife, the painter Ann Arnold and Annie Ovenden had continued to exhibit together in the following years until Ann Arnold died in 2015. Graham Arnold died in 2019.