Margaret Green was born in Hartlepool, Co Durham, the elder of two daughters of a stock-taker in a local steel plant. Her father was a member of the local art club and once Margaret had decided, at 16, that she wanted to be a painter, she had parental support. She attended West Hartlepool School of Art she won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, 1944-47. She was a star pupil, winning Henriques and Travelling Scholarships, a Silver Medal and Painting Prize.
Green taught at Walthamstow Art School, eventually to be recruited to the Royal Academy Schools and proved an inspiring teacher. They bought an ancient, thatched cottage at Onehouse, near Stowmarket, Suffolk, while always retaining a base in London. By clearing overgrown gardens running down to the River Rat they created a carefully planned, largely self-sufficient garden. This produced not only flowers and vegetables, quince wine and their own beer but also for Green a compelling subject.
Margaret Green's work was acquired by numerous private collectors and a string of notable public and corporate collections. These included the Chantrey Bequest, the Financial Times, Queens' College, Cambridge, the Ministries of Information and Public Building and Works, and galleries in Carlisle, Coventry, Leeds and Nottingham
