Piper was born at Epsom in 1903. Following his father’s wishes, he spent five years in the family law firm before pursuing an education in art, firstly at Richmond School of Art and then at the Royal College of Art. In the 1930s Piper exhibited abstract pictures and constructions before reverting to explorations of landscape and architecture, developing the picturesque style that defined his later work.

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Piper experimented with printmaking from as early as 1923, when he produced four wood engravings. His prints embody his love of the British landscape through their depiction of its art, architecture and topography. The development of his images was frequently underpinned by the same elements of collage, construction and assemblage that originally featured in his modernist work of the early 1930s.