SARAH RAPHAEL was born in East Bergholt, Suffolk in 1960. She graduated (with first class honours) from Camberwell School of Art in 1981. Her work was widely exhibited with great success; first in group, and then in solo shows at the Christopher Hull Gallery, Agnew's and finally at Marlborough Fine Art. Her paintings have been sold to a number of public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; the National Portrait Gallery and the Museum of Childhood, London.

In 1993 she won the inaugural Villiers David Prize, which enabled her to spend time working in the Australian desert. In 1996 she was the winner of the NatWest Painting Prize. She lived in London with her three daughters, Natasha, Anna and Rebecca. Sarah Raphael died in January 2001.