Alfred Vincent began working for the Bulletin in 1896, taking over from the renowned Phil May, his idol, with whom he was often - inevitably - unfavourably compared. In 1897 his book of caricatures, The Career of the Colonial Premiers in England, was published, and in 1899 he was one of the illustrators for the first edition of Steele Rudd's On Our Selection. Vincent worked from a Collins Street studio that had belonged to Arthur Streeton; he was a shareholder in the Bulletin, a key member of the Savage Club and was regarded as one of Melbourne's sharpest dressers. However, he suffered badly during his frequent bouts of depression, which are thought to have been exacerbated by negative criticism of his art. Having made some 900 drawings for the Bulletin, Vincent cut his own throat with a razor in Manly in 1915.
