Jonathan Pike was born in 1949 in Leatherhead, Surrey, England. He studied at the Central School of Art and Design before continuing his training at the Falmouth School of Art, where he was taught by Francis Hewlett and Robert Organ. A watercolourist first and foremost, he also works confidently in gouache and oils, demonstrating a remarkable command of structure, perspective and light. Upon graduating in 1971, Pike travelled extensively throughout Italy, Spain and France before settling in London, where the urban landscape became a defining theme within his work. He has developed a particular reputation for his detailed and atmospheric cityscapes of Rome, Florence, Havana, London and Dublin. It is, however, his exceptional Venetian scenes that have earned him a devoted international following. First visiting Venice in 1975, Pike has returned frequently to the city, producing a distinguished body of work that captures its shifting light, architectural grandeur and distinctive sense of place.

His paintings are widely collected in the United Kingdom and abroad, and his work is held in the collection of the City of London Corporation. Pike has exhibited regularly in both Britain and the United States, including at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. In 2009, he was awarded First Prize in the Royal Watercolour Society and Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, further cementing his reputation as a leading contemporary watercolourist. Selected Exhibitions include: South Bank Show (Prizewinner, 1984-1986); Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (1980, 1981, 1990-1995); Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; W. H. Patterson, Venice in Peril Exhibition (1992-2006).