Sir Alfred East was born in Kettering in Northamptonshire, England in 1844. Born into a family of shoemakers, Alfred East studied art at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Sir Alfred East's landscapes are heavily influenced by the French Barbizon school of painters and to many he was considered to be the greatest living landscape painter of his time.

In April 1888 Sir Alfred East and Thomas Cooper Gotch (also from Kettering) exhibited at the galleries of the Fine Art Society in London. Following its success Sir Alfred East was commissioned by Marcus Huish, Managing Director of the Society, to spend six months in Japan to paint the landscape and the people of the country. When the exhibition of 104 paintings from this tour was held at the Fine Art Society in 1890 it was a spectacular success. Some of these Japanese pieces are available from The Oakham Fine Art Gallery.

Sir Alfred East was also an etcher of some repute producing approximately 60 works during his lifetime. Many of his rare etchings are available from Oakham Fine Art. Sir Alfred East's etchings, following his tour of Japan are influenced by his time there, as can be seen in his composition of trees. After Sir Alfred East's death all of the etched plates were destroyed making the limited number of impressions that are in circulation today highly collectible.