Born in 1948 in Sheffield, England, Alan Charlton studied at the Camberwell School of Art in London from 1966–1969, and during his tenure there, he decided to only produce gray paintings, citing its emotional qualities and mutability. Charlton's work has been gaining recognition since the 1970s and it has been exhibited at institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Castello di Rivoli in Torino, the Tate in London, Arts Council Collection (London), Colección de Arte Contemporáneo “La Caixa” (Barcelona), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, France), MAM Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Paris, France), Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Castello di Rivoli (Turin, Italy), Museum Abteiberg, (Mönchengladbach, Germany), MuHKA Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst (Ambers, Belgium.)