Henry Fenton Spread painted in Melbourn, Australia and took sketching tours in New Zealand and Tasmania before he came to the United States in 1870. His first known address in 1870 was New York City, but within the same year he settled in Chicago.

Spread studied in South Kensington, England. He studied watercolors with Riviere and Warren. He also studied with Slingeneyer in Brussels in 1863.

Spread was a member of the Chicago Academy of Design. He exhibited a painting entitled Mount Kearsarge, New Hampshire at the Chicago Industrial Exposition of 1875. He also exhibited at the National Academy of Design (1880-1882), the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Reference
Who Was Who in American Art