[3] Michael Peppiatt studied at Brentwood School, Essex, at the University of Göttingen, and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA 1964, MA 1985, PhD)[4][5] and subsequently joined The Observer as a junior art critic.
In 1985, Peppiatt became owner and editor of Art International,[7] which he relaunched from Paris, devoting special issues to the artists he most admired.
In 1994, Peppiatt returned to London with his wife, the art historian Jill Lloyd, and their two children, where he wrote the biography of Francis Bacon (1909–1992), whose close friend and commentator he had been for thirty years.
Chosen as a "Book of the Year"[8] by The New York Times and translated into several languages, the biography is considered the definitive account of Bacon's life and work.
Peppiatt has curated numerous exhibitions worldwide, notably travelling retrospectives of the School of London, Francis Bacon, Alberto Giacometti, Christian Schad and Antoni Tàpies.