John Martin Alfsen was born in Long Rapids, Michigan,[2] and emigrated to Canada in 1913 as a boy of 11, settling in Toronto.
Beatty (1920–1922), then at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, and sculpture with Antoine Bourdelle at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris.
Following his year in Europe, he took further study at the Art Students' League, New York, under Kenneth Hayes Miller (1925).
For two years, he lived in Sarasota where he taught and painted winter circus people at the Ringling Brothers School of Art.
[10] His work can be seen at Alfsen House, 154 Main St. North, Markham, Ontario.