John George Brown was a British citizen and an American painter who specialized in genre scenes. His parents apprenticed him to the career of glass worker at the age of fourteen in an attempt to dissuade him from pursuing painting. He studied nights at the School of Design in Newcastle-on-Tyne while working as a glass cutter there between 1849 and 1852. After moving to New York City in 1853, he studied with Thomas Seir Cummings at the National Academy of Design where he was elected a National Academician in 1861. Brown was the Academy's vice-president from 1899 to 1904.
His father-in-law encouraged his artistic abilities, supporting him financially, letting Brown pursue painting full-time. He established a studio in 1860 and, in 1866, he became one of the charter members of the Water-Color Society, of which he was president from 1887 to 1904. Brown became famous for his idealized depictions of street urchins in New York (bootblacks, street musicians, posy sellers, newsboys, etc.).
