Born in Canfield, Illinois on 1 March 1862. He lived for a short time in Louisiana before going to France as a student in 1892. He then spent most of his life in France and England. He was Professor of Watercolour at the Delecluse Academy in Paris and then at Kings Langley in Hertfordshire. Also etcher and wood engraver.

As a young man, he studied in Paris with Jules Lefebvre, Benjamin Constant, and Paul Delance, and then went to Chicago for five years to do an engraving apprenticeship. About 1881, he went to New Orleans where he established a lithography business that was active in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Among his commissions were mastheads for newspapers and lithographic views for the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition.

He exhibited in 1901 and 1902 at the Royal Academy from 26 Alfred Place West, South Kensington. His wife, Ethel Horsfall Ertz, was a miniaturist, also exhibiting at the Royal Academy. He died in Pulborough, England, in 1954.

His work is in a number of public and private collections in both Europe and the US, including the Library of Congress in Washington DC and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

This work was exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1895.