John Hoyland was an English abstract painter who was born in Sheffield, England. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools in London in the early 1960s and became associated with the group of artists known as the "New Generation," who exhibited together in London in 1964. Hoyland's paintings are characterized by their bold use of colour and geometric forms. He often used vibrant hues and applied paint in thick layers to create a sense of depth and texture in his work. He was inspired by a range of sources, including music, landscape, and the work of other artists, such as Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. Over the course of his career, Hoyland's work evolved from more organic and gestural forms to a more hard-edged geometric style. He exhibited widely in the UK and internationally, including at the Tate Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. He was also a prominent teacher and served as a professor of painting at the Royal Academy Schools from 1998 to 2006. Hoyland was widely regarded as one of the most important abstract painters in Britain, and his work continues to be influential today. He was awarded the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006, shortly before his death in 2011.