He was born in Valaparaiso, Chile, and came to England in 1891. He studied art at the Slade School and with Stanhope FORBES at Newlyn - aged 20 in 1901, he was a boarder in the home of Mary Beer at Paul near Penzance. 

Later he lived in Chelsea, joining the New English Art Club in 1919. In 1918 he exhibited with the Friday Club at the Alpine Club Gallery in London.