Born in Epsom and trained at Richmond and the Royal College of Art, Piper became a member of the Seven and Five Society in 1934. He had a brief abstract period in 1935-38 and from 1936 became fascinated by landscape collages. Piper's interest in the Welsh landscape grew steadily after his marriage in 1937 to the writer Myfanwy Evans, whose family came from South Pembrokeshire.