Born in Petersburg, Virginia in 1867, where he died in 1940, Myers became an important painter of urban realism, starting with a series of images of ghetto life in 1887, the year he began studying at the Cooper Union.  One of his earliest works is Backyard from that year, in a private collection, which already shows a raw, unidealized view of New York City.  Thus he actually anticipated the productions of the Ash Can School.  Myers continued his studies at the Art Studen (showing 500 of 6132 characters).