David Boyd (b.1924 ) enjoyed a family background of pottery and painting that also nurtured the talents of his elder brothers Arthur and Guy, and sisters Lucy and Mary.

His career as a painter began in 1957 with a series of symbolic paintings on Australian explorers. Controversy surrounded these works and subsequent paintings based on the tragic history of the Tasmanian Aborigines. In 1961 David and his family moved to Rome and then London, where his work first won significant international recognition.