Joseph Farquharson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 4 May 1846. He had a precocious talent for painting and was accepted by the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh in Edinburgh at the age of 13. He then received private lessons from the landscape painter Peter Graham. He also attended the Life School at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. By 1880 he had travelled to Paris where he studied under Carolus-Duran (1837-1917). He subsequently visited Egypt where he travelled extensively. Farquharson exhibited at the Royal Academy and Fine Art Society in London; Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; Royal Cambrian Academy in Conwy, Wales; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1890, and a full Royal Academician (RA) in 1913.