Gladys Maccabe was born in 1918, in Randalstown, Co. Antrim. She studied at Belfast College of Art and in 1941 she married fellow artist and musician, the late Max Maccabe.

Gladys and Max exhibited together on many occasions, starting in Ireland at Robinson & Cleaver in Belfast, 1942, and in England at the Kensington Art Gallery in 1949. Gladys formed the Ulster Society of Women Artists in 1957, and she and her husband were members of the Ulster Contemporary Group. In 1961 she was elected a Member of the ROI, and she is also a Royal Ulster Academician, a Fellow of the Royal Fine Arts Society, and has received many honours including the 1984 World Culture Prize.

Gladys Maccabe was a fashion and arts correspondent in the 1960s, working for both newspapers and television. Examples of her work are in The Ulster Museum, The Royal Ulster Academy, The Arts Council of Ireland Collection, The Imperial War Museum and many other permanent collections