In 1895 he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he studied with Jean-Léon Gérôme. At age nineteen he was awarded the gold medal of the American Art Association for a history painting depicting the death of Minnehaha, the subject of Longfellow's popular poem, Hiawatha. This and other of his figurative work was painted from life and based on careful research to ensure its historical accuracy. In 1893, while still very young, he was commissioned to decorate the dome of the central building of the Colombian Exposition, the famous "White City" in Chicago.

He emerged as one of the most prominent muralists of the era, at a time when murals were regarded as an essential element of most public architecture, theaters, municipal buildings, and even some private homes.

In 1906 he designed and had built for his use the classical Villa Francesca at Setauket, Long Island, a small corner of which is depicted in this painting.