Otto Henry Bacher first studied painting and etching in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, and was later drawn to Germany to study at the Royal Academy in Munich from 1878-1879. He joined his teacher Frank Duveneck (1848-1919) in Italy the following autumn, and befriended the venerable American artist James Abbott McNeil Whistler (1834-1903) in Venice in the summer of 1880. The two artists bonded over their affinity for etching, the medium for which Bacher is best known. Bacher’s works, like Whistler’s, are carefully composed and delight in their atmospheric quality. His pursuits in oil and pastel exhibit a similar diligence and academic approach, although they are significantly rarer than his prints. He exhibited with the Society of American Artists while abroad, and continued to do so after his return to New York in 1887. He also exhibited at the National Academy of Design. Throughout his career, he produced illustrations for various magazines such as Scribner's, Century, and McClure's.