Beginning in 1859, Alcott studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. May Alcott visited Paris, studied at the Académie Julian in 1870 and exhibited in both cities, as well as elsewhere in the US and in London. She painted mainly flowers, but also made excellent copies of works by J.M.W. Turner. She studied art anatomy with William Rimmer in Boston, and also studied with William Morris Hunt, Krug, Vautier and Müller among others. She taught art to young Daniel Chester French.