Born in Kent, England, Rose Wylie studied at the Folkestone and Dover School of Art and later at the Royal College of Art in London. Despite a long career, she gained significant international recognition for her painting practice relatively late in her life, becoming a prominent figure in the contemporary art scene during her seventies.

Wylie works primarily with oil paint on large, unprimed canvases, often leaving the fabric raw and visible. Her signature style features bold, gestural brushwork and a flattened perspective, frequently layering images and handwritten text to create narrative, often humorous, visual dialogues.

Her work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at major institutions, including the Serpentine Gallery in London and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. She continues to be celebrated for her prolific output and her ability to blend high-art references with everyday observations.