Archibald Hartrick was born in Bangalore, India, the son of an army officer. His mother brought him to Scotland in 1866, where he was educated in Edinburgh, studying medicine at the University. He later studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London and in the late 1880s travelled to Paris and Pont-Aven becoming friendly with Gauguin, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautreuc. Lithography was his main medium and although his work showed delicate and sensitive draughtsmanship the results tended to be worthy rather than brilliant. He illustrated a number of books and wrote and published Lithography as a Fine Art in 1932.