Jean Louis van Kuyck, born in 1821 in Hoboken, Belgium, was initially a watchmaker. When he could no longer practice this profession for health reasons, he decided to become a painter. He was educated at the academy in Antwerp under, among others, history painters Gustave Wappers, and subsequently specialized in painting stable interiors with horses and cows. Already during his life he had great success as an animal painter. Van Kuyck won many prizes and was appointed Knight in the Order of Leopold in 1869.