Walter Beach Humphrey (1892–1966) was born in Elkton, Wisconsin. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1914, he attended the Art Students League in New York City.

Humphrey created seven covers for The Saturday Evening Post. He also created illustrations for advertisements and painted some well-known murals, including Humphrey Patriotic Montage (now housed at the Smithsonian) and the Hovey Murals (Dartmouth University).

Humphrey resided in New Rochelle, New York, home to many other artists, including Edward Penfield, J.C. Leyendecker, and Norman Rockwell.