William J. McCloskey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 6, 1858. He was the third of 8 children, as well as the third generation of Irish immigrants. He was brought up in Philadelphia, home to many talented artists, during a very intellectually thriving epoch. Little is known of William's childhood, but it safe to assume that he most likely attended private Catholic school. Upon graduating, William registered for an Antique Class at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in September 1877. The artist most likely inherited his artistic abilities from his mother, since she was registered at the Academy from 1878 to 1879. In December 1882, William was newly settled in Denver, Colorado. Soon enough, McCloskey rented a studio at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Denver and was teaching a Life Class. At a social gathering of one of his neighbors, he met his future wife, Alberta Binford, for the first time that year. By early June 1884, William and Alberta, with their 2-month-old baby Eleanor, arrived in Los Angeles for a visit with the Binford family. Within the same year, the McCloskeys were settled at 230 Temple, Los Angeles, California. This was a very opportunistic time for the McCloskeys, since Los Angeles was just starting to develop as a permanent artist community, and both grew to prominence in that respected group. Portraiture was William's strength, while flower still lifes were Alberta's. Flowers happened to be a very popular subject matter for Southern California regional painters, since the area yielded many flowers--most popularly roses. Portraiture was becoming replaced by the vanguard of photography at the time, though the McCloskeys, among other cohorts, still made a good living painting portraits for prominent figures and supporters of the art world. The McCloskeys especially depended on sympathetic likeness to convey their sitters' personalities, rather... (http://bowersmuseum.blogspot.nl/2015/10/william-j-mccloskey undefined

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