Portrait artist Cecil Clark Davis was born in Chicago in 1877. Primarily self-taught, she painted from the age of sixteen. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago for three months, and received helpful criticism from John Singer Sargent and other painter friends. She was the first wife of Richard Harding Davis (she received his engagement ring from Europe via messenger), and painted in various parts of the world when she accompanied him during his war involvements. Her summers were usually spent in Marion, Massachusetts, where she painted while her author husband sketched.