Albert Bruce-Joy was born Albert Bruce Joy in Dublin, Ireland on 21 August 1842. After attending King's College, London, where he trained as a physician, he studied at the National Art Training School in South Kensington [now Royal College of Art] and at the Royal Academy Schools in London. He then spent three years in Rome where he completed his artistic education. He subsequently became one of the best-known sculptors of his generation, particularly admired for his naturalistic style. He had a studio in Dublin from 1870 to 1880, and one in London from 1870 to 1915. He exhibited virtually every year at the Royal Academy in London from 1866 to 1923, and most years at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin from 1870 to 1914. He also exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in London; Royal Birmingham Society of Artists; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Manchester City Art Gallery; Leeds City Art Gallery, the Belfast Art Society; and at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.