An exceptional talent Dudley Hardy was the eldest son of the marine painter Thomas Bush Hardy.
He studied first under his father and then at the age of fifteen was sent to the Düsseldorf Academy and studied under Crola and Lowenstein.  He rebelled against the teaching methods of the Academy and left remaining in Düsseldorf painting landscapes and genre.
However he did decide to return to the Academy for a further three years before returning to England.
He then spent a spell at the Antwerp Academy under Verlat and for two years in Paris with Collin and Rossi.  He evidently had a vivid imagination as he acted as 'war artist in the Sudan' for a periodical which living in London!
He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1885, and he quickly established his reputation with the showing in 1888 of his first large canvas Sans Asile. 
He painted many Eastern scenes and later a number of Breton genre subjects, he was also well known for his theatre posters that include the famous 'Yellow Girl'.