Peter showed from an early age that he had a facility for drawing and his teachers quickly recognised that he showed talent, particularly for depicting animals. When his family moved to England he was educated first at Stonyhurst and then he won an art scholarship to Millfield, (the first awarded). His precocious talent was soon spotted by Aylmer Tryon, the founder of the Tryon Gallery in London, and with the encouragement of Susan Crawford he made his way to Florence to study with Signorina Simi, a contemporary of Annigoni.

Signorina Simi herself was regarded as the leading teacher in the highly demanding study of traditional draughtsmanship, and Peter spent two years studying the skills of the old masters and learning the complicated art of observing and drawing from life. He started to exhibit from an early age, having his first exhibition in Lambourn at the age of fourteen, followed by two sell-out exhibitions in Dublin. John Skeaping, the renowned sculptor saw his work and Peter spent a brief but invaluable time with the master of the depiction of movement and speed.

In 1975 he returned to Ireland where he set up a studio and quickly established a reputation as Ireland's leading equine artist. In 1978 he was married and he has three children, Hannah, Sam and Rebecca. Hannah and Rebecca show a keen interest in art and Sam has an undiluted passion for horses. Peter Curling had his first London exhibition at the Tryon Gallery in 1978 and has exhibited there regularly since then. His work has also been shown in Lexington, Saratoga and New York. In 1992 he had a very successful show in Dublin at Jorgensen Fine Art.