Booth was born the son of a doctor of metallurgy, and the industrial surrounds of Sheffield and its history of being bombed in the Second World War influenced him from an early age.
Memories of his childhood in the blackened industrial landscape of Sheffield seem to infuse the work, especially his well-known apocalyptic figurative paintings, which resemble images of the end of the world.
[citation needed] The heavy impasto paint texture describes, with vigour and intensity, flames, explosions, and unidentified nightmarish images.
A major retrospective exhibition of Peter Booth's work was held at the Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria during November 2003 to February 2004.
[3] It includes several comparison prints with artists such as William Blake, Francisco Goya, James Ensor and Samuel Palmer to reveal similarities with Booth's work.