Wilson's work gained recognition among London art dealers in the mid 1940s and he held a solo exhibition at the Arcade gallery in 1945, which displayed at the same time works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and Joan Miró. Associated with primitive art, as well as with the surrealist movement, 'outsider' artist Scottie Wilson drew inspiration from India, where he served as a young army recruit. Underwater Garden is very typical of Wilson's work as he focused on birds, animals and botanical forms. This design was commissioned in 1955 by the American cotton baron Zika Ascher, who used it for his 'artist silk square project', which counted designs by Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson and Henri Matisse, among others.