Mary Fedden was a painter and printmaker. She was born in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol and studied at the Slade School of Art. Fedden taught at the Royal College of Art (1956–1964) and at the Yehudi Menuhin School (1964–1974). David Hockney was among her students. 'Still Life' belongs to the period that the artist herself described as 'rough, loose painting' that started shaping her own style in the 1960s. Fedden’s style moved from her previous 'melancholic' works with 'underlying tensions, unresolved feelings' from the years after the Second World War, towards a more free, maybe naïve representation of domestic forms, such as fruits and dishes. Simplicity and expressivity became some of her key elements, such as in the 'symmetrical design discovered in the cut fruit' found in the basket.