Born in Louisville, Kentucky, painter and print maker Alfred Brennan studied at the School of Design in Cincinnati. He received a gold medal upon completion of his work there together with a one year assistant professorship. Brennan subsequently moved to Philadelphia and studied with Frank Duveneck, subsequently moving to New York in the late 1870s, where he lived until his death except for five years in Brookline, Massachusetts where he produced work in fulfillment of an advertising contract. He was highly regarded for his pen-and-ink draftsmanship, receiving fulsome praise from Joseph Pennell. In all, he produced more than 7,000 drawings and magazine covers, which appeared in leading periodicals throughout his career. He died in Brooklyn, New York.