William Gerard Barry grew up in County Cork, Ireland. He studied in Paris with the society portraitist Carolus-Duran, who had also taught the American painter John Singer Sargent. Barry worked briefly in London and in 1888 moved to Chicago to establish a studio. The Chicago Daily Tribune announced on his arrival that he ​“brings here the accomplishments of the most celebrated ateliers of Paris, the approval of the Salon jury, and the applause of the London public.”