Clive Gardiner was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. He initially considered a career in journalism (his father had been editor of the Daily News, but studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and later at the Royal Academy Schools from 1913-14. He taugh at Brighton School of Art, and later at Goldsmiths’ College in London where be was principal from 1929-1957. Gardiner was influenced by the French artists Cezanne, Derain, Picasso in Braque. He undertook poster designs for London Trasport, the Empire Marketing Board and Shell, in additional to painting murals for Toynbee Hall, London. During the Second World Way he advised on the décor of the national restaurants. A memorial exhibition was mounted by the Arts Council in 1963.