Cullen was born on June 6, 1866, in St. John’s, Newfoundland.  In 1870 his family moved to Montreal, Quebec. He traveled to Paris at the age of 22 to study painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Julian where he fell under the influence of the Impressionists. In 1910 he married a widow whose son, his stepson, grew up to be the artist Robert Wakeham Pilot.

Beginning in January 1918, Cullen served with Canadian forces in the First World War. He came to the attention of Lord Beaverbrook, who arranged for him to be commissioned as an “official war artist” along with Frederick Varley, J.W. Beatty and C. W. Simpson.

Cullen died March 28, 1934, at Chambly, Québec. Source: Wikipedia.