Hans Stoltenberg Lerche was born in 1867 in Düsseldorf. His father was the Norwegian writer and painter Vincent Stoltenberg. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown, a truly European career opened up for him.
He studied painting with Eugène Carrière in Paris, then moved to Naples where he immersed himself in ancient sculptures. In 1891, he returned to Paris and collaborated with Hébrard and Louchet who founded his pieces. In the following years, he exhibited at the Salon des Champs-Elysées, at the Exposition Nationale des Beaux-Arts and won a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1900. During this period, many European museums acquired his works.
He was taken by the Spanish flu in 1920.