Talbot Hughes was the son of still-life painter, William Hughes, and brother of Sir Herbert Hughes-Stanton, a landscape painter.
He lived in London, and later in Osmington, near Weymouth, Dorset. From 1871 to 1913 he exhibited at the Royal Academy. He also exhibited with the Society of British Artists. In 1894 he was elected to the Arts Club. In 1903 he was elected to the Society of Oil Painters.