An influential Philadelphia painter and etcher of portraits and figure studies, Stephen James Ferris studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy and in Paris, under Jean Leon Gerome. He achieved a considerable reputation for his art in both America and Europe and received the prestigious Fortuny Prize for the best portrait, Rome, 1876. Stephen James Ferris also served for twenty six years as the Instructor of Art at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women.

Stephen James Ferris' association with American art and artists is also important. His wife, Elizabeth Moran Ferris, was the sister of the artists, Thomas and Peter Moran. His son, Jean Leon Gerome Moran, became a much admired painter in the late nineteenth century. Stephen Ferris was also a major connoisseur of fine prints, particularly etchings. Over two thousand of his collected prints are now housed at the Smithsonian Institution under the title of 'The Ferris Collection'.

 Stephen James Ferris and his brother-in-law, Thomas Moran, first studied the process of etching in 1860 from the engraver and publisher, John Sartain. Stephen Ferris's first published etching was created in 1875. During the following years he created many fine portraits and figure studies in this medium. Many were based upon the designs of the artists he admired most, such as, Gerome (his former teacher), Fortuny and Mouilleron. Along with Anna Lea Merritt and Stephen Schoff, Ferris is considered to be among the first rank of early American portrait etchers.