Ralph Barton (Bart) Perry, Jr. was born to Ralph Barton and Rachel Berenson Perry on September 27, 1906 in Cambridge, Massachuetts where his father wrote numerous books on and taught philosophy at Harvard. Bart, who was the nephew of art critic Bernard Berenson, initially studied art in Europe where his uncle was livng in Florence, Italy. He went on to graduate from Harvard and married Pittsburgh PA native and Smith graduate Harriet Seeley in Maine in August of 1931, while he was teaching art at the University of Pittsburgh. After more study in New York the Perrys moved to San Francisco, California in 1938. Ralph studied at the California School of Fine Art. In 1940, when he registered for the draft he was living in Mill Valley and listed his profession as an "Art Goods Buyer."  He went on to teach art at Mills College in Oakland, Dominican College in Marin County and in Sonoma, California where he died on November 20, 1992.