夏普出生在桥港，俄亥俄州于1859年9月27日到爱尔兰 移民的父母。他的父亲是一个商人通过贸易。从儿时起，夏普着迷任何与美洲印第安人。作为一个男孩，夏普几乎游泳溺水身亡事故。他从水中拉出，并谁以为他死了的朋友带到他家。他的母亲救活他，但事件永久损坏他的听力，他逐渐成为完全聋了。其结果是，他必须学会读唇语，并同他进行书写板。

夏普的父亲在他十二岁那年去世了。不久以后，男孩开始在钉厂合作，以帮助支持他的家人。 14岁，他的听力损失作出持续上学是不可能的。他退出学校搬到辛辛那提，他住的地方与姑姑和工作养活自己和寄钱给他的母亲。他在简要地研究设计McMicken学校，然后登记在辛辛那提艺术学院。

1881年，夏普游历欧洲，在那里他学习了一年在皇家美术学院在安特卫普，比利时。

他回到美国，并在1883年取得了第一个他的行程到的美国西部，来访的美国新墨西哥州，亚利桑那州，加利福尼亚州和怀俄明州，在那里他开始了素描的成员，镇，尤马蒂拉，Klikitat，肖松尼和乌特印度部落。

1885年他前往欧洲与约翰·豪瑟，另一个辛辛那提的艺术家，谁在与他研究的皇家美术学院在慕尼黑。夏普也就读于Académie朱利安在巴黎，并与19世纪90年代弗兰克Duveneck意大利。

 SHARP was born in Bridgeport, Ohio on September 27, 1859 to Irish immigrant parents. His father was a businessman through trade. Since childhood, SHARP has fascinated any American indians. ] as a boy, SHARP almost drowned drowning accident. He pulled out of the water, and a friend who thought he was dead took him to his house. His mother saved him, but the event permanently damaged his hearing, he became totally deaf. As a result, he must learn to read lips, and writing board with him.

SHARP's father died at the age of twelve. Before long, the boy began to work in a nail factory to help support his family.  is 14 years old, his hearing loss makes it impossible to keep going to school.  he moved out of school to Cincinnati, where he lived with his aunt and work to feed himself and send money to his mother.  he briefly studied the design of McMicken school and then enrolled at Art Academy of Cincinnati.

In 1881, SHARP traveled to Europe, where he studied for a year at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, belgium.

He returned to the United States, and made his first trip to the western United States in 1883, visiting New Mexico, Arizona, California and Wyoming, where he began sketching a member of the town, Umatilla, Klikitat, Ukraine and India Shoshone tribes.

In 1885 he traveled to Europe with John Hauser, another Cincinnati artist who worked with him at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.  SHARP is also studying at Acad Julian Mie in Paris, and with the 1890s Duveneck Italy.