Sterner was born to a Jewish family in London, and attended King Edward's School, Birmingham.

After a brief period in Germany, he studied drawing in Paris with Jean-Léon Gérôme and Gustave Boulanger.

[2][3] He has illustrated G. W. Curtis' Prue and I (which established his reputation as a black-and-white artist), Coppée's Tales (1891), Works of Edgar Allan Poe (1894), and Mary Augusta Ward's' Eleanor (1900) and The Marriage of William Ashe (1905).

[2] Sterner's awards include the Carnegie Prize at the National Academy of Design in 1941.

[2] His New York Times obituary stated that he was perhaps best known for his portraits, but "he was also noted for his nudes, religious subjects, landscapes, still-life work and, in his earlier days, his book and magazine illustrations.