From 1949 to 1950 Winfred Gaul studied History of Art and German Studies at the university of Cologne. Later the artist spent three years at the Stuttgart academy under Willi Baumeister and Rolf Henniger. During his first visit to Paris, Winfred Gaul met Jean-Pierre Wilhelm, Pierre Restany and Julien Alvard. In 1955 he moved to a studio in Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth. Winfred Gaul made friends with Manfred de la Motte and Peter Brüning. In 1956 Gaul had his first solo exhibition at the Munich "Gurlitt" gallery. Gaul's first print was produced alongside photograms, which he made together with Peter Brüning. Winfred Gaul became acquainted with Karl Otto Götz, Bernard Schultze and Heinz Kreutz. In 1961 there was a change-over from Art informel to "Verkehrszeichen und Signale" ("traffic signs and signals").
In 1962 Gaul set up his first traffic signs at the motorway from Milan to Monza. From 1964 to 1965 the artist worked as a guest lecturer at the "Staatliche Kunstschule Bremen". From 1967 to 1969 Winfred Gaul lived in Antwerp. During this time he produced the draft of a variable system for a geometrical environment.
From 1969 to 1972 three colored steel sculptures were created for the "Südasien Institut" at the university of Heidelberg. A major travelling exhibition took place in 1973, visiting German cities from Münster to Ludwigshafen, Ulm and Bielefeld.
In 1977 Gaul contributed works from his "Farbmarkierungen" series to "documenta 6". In 1978 the Kiel "Kunsthalle" organized an exhibition of his complete prints and objects in connection with the publication of his Catalogue Raisonné. In 1982 the "Pinacoteca di Macerate" hosted a retrospective of his drawings.
After 1983 Winfred Gaul created individual pictures, drawings and watercolors and a series of pictures and triptychs consisting of several parts, which he dedicates to Claude Monet.