Born in Bombay, India to British parents in 1931, Mark King’s childhood was one of exotic experience and privileged education. After graduating from La Martiniére College in Calcutta, the sixteen-year-old King sailed to England to attend Bournemouth College of Art. There he studied painting, sculpture, architecture and theatre design. Subsequently, he spent seven years as the resident scenic designer at the Oxford Playhouse Theatre. In 1961, he decided to concentrate on painting, and he moved to Paris, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Louvre. It was there that he developed his impressionistic style, influenced by the wealth of examples of European masters.