Brief Biography-Alvan Fisher was born in Needham, Boston, where he first learned to paint while working for the portraitist John Ritto Penniman. he became an established painter of genre scenes and portraits. In 1825, he toured Europe visiting the principal galleries of England, France, and Italy. When Fisher returned to Boston, he set up a studio on Washington Street and became acquainted with Thomas Doughty, who helped him arrange exhibitions. In 1827, the National Academy of Design admitted him as an Honorary Academician. Landscapes were his speciality alongside portraiture. Fisher spent his last years in Dedham, Massachusetts; he died in 1863.