[2] Henri was the third of the four sons of Michel Lévy and Thérèse Emerique, a Jewish couple originally from the Lorraine province in the north-east of France.

[3][1] Michel Lévy became a wealthy publisher in Paris,[4] where Henri became a pupil of the painters Félix Barrias (1822-1907) and of Antoine Vollon (1833-1900).

[6][7] Michel-Lévy also became an art collector of some distinction, as can be seen from the works of Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, Delacroix, Hubert Robert, Prud'hon, Tiepolo, and numerous others included in the posthumous sale of his collection in 1919.

Art historian Ronald Pickvance suggested that Michel-Lévy may have been the painter of the portrait Madame Lévy, which is usually believed to have been painted by Édouard Manet.

An example is Le Pouligen, la plage at Museum Baron Martin, Gray, France, in a style reminiscent of Boudin's work.