Born in Bristol in 1871, Arthur Drummond was the son of the marine painter John Drummond. He received his artistic training from Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and also under Benjamin Constant and J.P. Laurens in Paris.

By 1890 Drummond was living at 41, Walterton Road, St. Peter's Park and exhibited his first work at the Royal Academy, entitled The Minstrel. He continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1901.

Drummond specialized in history and genre scenes and like his teacher Alma-Tadema, set many of his works in ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome.