The following biography is based on information give to AskART.com by Daniel Lockhart, who is writing a book on the artist:

Born in 1866 in the Russian occupied country of Latvia in the province of Riga, Andre Lapine became a Canadian painter, renowned for his depictions of horses, and also portraits and landscapes. He first studied under Russian painter Stanslav Rozes, went to London with Rozes, and then moved to Paris with artist Jose Weiss and attempted to eek out a living by painting portraits, but failed to do so.

Weiss left for America, and Lapine set out across Europe on his own, making his way to Amsterdam, mainly on foot, and painting various portraits along the way to help sustain him. Upon reaching Amsterdam, he jo...