William Wallace Gilchrist, Jr., was born on March 2, 1879, to Susan 'Maudie' Gilchrist and William Wallace Gilchrist, Sr., a celebrated American musician, conductor and composer (1846-1916); the sitter for this portrait. Gilchrist Jr. began his formal training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he studied under some of the period's most influential artists, including Cecilia Beaux, Thomas Anshutz, and William Merritt Chase. Gilchrist also received instruction from Winslow Homer during annual summer vacations in Maine.