Born in Philadelphia in 1847, Milne Ramsey was a still life, landscape, and figure painter who remains best known for his highly realistic his still-life scenes.

Early in his career as an artist, Ramsey studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and then under Leon Bonnat in Paris from 1871-1876. Although he exhibited extensively throughout his career both in the United States and abroad, his most noted exhibitions include Paris Salon from 1868 to 1869, 1876, 1878 to 1880 and the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts annually from 1877 to 1892 and again in 1903.

The prime of his career was spent in spent in France, and his son, Charles Frederic Ramsey was born at the artist’s colony of Pont-Aven, Brittany. Upon Milne’s return to America 1881, he kept studios in Philadelphia and New York City, and had a retreat in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Ultimately, Milne returned to Philadelphia and remained there for the last years of his life.