Heade was born and raised in Lumberville, Pennsylvania. His first lessons in art were provided locally and in 1840, he took a study trip to England and the Continent, where he spent two years in Rome. A turning point in Heade's artistic career came after he returned to New York in 1859 and rented quarters in the Tenth Street Studio Building. Proximity to so many landscape painters, especially Frederic Church, seems to have inspired him, for it signaled the beginning of his development of a personal style and sparked his lasting interest in the landscape's broad panorama and subtle atmospheric effects. Heade initially became known for his landscapes and still lifes of Brazilian hummingbirds and orchids. Later in life, he moved to Florida, which marked an important turning point in his career. Of the new flowers that interested him, the giant magnolia became the chief theme of his late still lifes. While Heade depicted the orchids growing in the jungle, he brought the magnolias indoors to be enjoyed.