Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Bricher began painting part-time at the Lowell Institute while he pursued a business career in Boston. He turned to painting full-time in 1858, working in Boston and Newburyport, Massachusetts. In 1871, he moved to Staten Island, New York, where he remained for the rest of his life, painting oils and watercolors along the New England coast during the summer months. In 1973, the Indianapolis Museum of Art mounted a retrospective exhibition, Alfred Thompson Bricher, 1837-1908, with a catalogue by Jeffrey R. Brown. Bricher was a self taught luminist, a 19th century American painting style that developed as an offshoot of the Hudson River school.  Luminism is characterized by effects of light in landscapes, emphasizing tranquility, and often depicting calm, reflective water and a soft hazy sky.