In 1878, Vincent Stiepevich, a Russian emigrant, arrived in New York and settled in Brooklyn. Stiepevich was already a fully trained realist artist who practiced portrait, figure and genre painting. A favorite subject of his was Orientalist Harem scenes. Stiepevich was a member of or exhibited with the Artists Fund Society, the Brooklyn Art Association, the National Academy of Design, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Boston Arts Club and the Art Institute of Chicago.