Martin Bloch was born into an assimilated Jewish family in Neisse, Germany (now Nysa, Poland) in 1883 and studied aesthetics and drawing in Berlin under Heinrich Wölfflin and Lovis Corinth. Following the rise of Nazism, Bloch fled to England, establishing his second art school, the School of Contemporary Painting, in London. Following internment as an 'enemy alien' in 1940, Bloch become known for his highly-coloured expressionist paintings and illustrations of the Blitz; he also taught at Camberwell School of Art, influencing a cohort of young painters (including Gillian Ayres) in the use of colour.

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