Marcus King was born in 1891 in Manaia, Taranaki, where his father was postmaster. In his ninth year the family moved to Tapanui, Southland. King yearned for a career in art and at the age of 15 he won a junior cadetship in the architectural division of the Public Works Department in Wellington.
A transfer to Auckland in 1906 enabled him to attend evening classes at the Elam School of Art under an inspiring Swedish painter, Edward Friström. The young Marcus King and Edward Friström developed a lively friendship and went sketching together around the Auckland region. When King returned to Wellington in 1915, Friström stayed with him and the two artists continued working together and exhibiting at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.
