Charles-Theodore Frere, referred to familiarly as Theodore, was born in Paris on June 24, 1814. He was the older brother of Pierre-Édouard Frere, an established genre painter who had studied under Paul Delaroche. The fraternity of the two brother-artists, both attaining such a high level of prestige, was unique in that they treated extremely different themes.

Theodore began studying under Jean-Leon Cogniet and Camille Roqueplan. Shortly after beginning his studies, he left Paris and traveled through the countryside of Normandy, Alsace, and Auvergne finding some inspiration in nature.
After returning to Paris, Frere used what he had seen in painting his first composition accepted at the Salon of 1834: Vue des Environs de...