Arriving at the Ball

Cyrus Cuneo was born in San Francisco, to Italian parents. By way of boxing competitions he managed to win enough prize money to take him to Paris to study art at the Carol Rossi Academy. Here he became Whistler’s head student whilst earning an extra income by giving boxing lessons. In 1903 he married and moved to London where he quickly made a career for himself at an illustrator working for The Illustrated London, Pall Mall Magazine and The Strand Magazine. He died at the age of 37 from blood poisoning, caused by the accidental stab of a hatpin at a dance. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere and works by him are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum and Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. He was the father of the artist Terence Cuneo.