Ronner was the daughter and pupil of Henriette Ronner-Knip, a painter famous in her day for pictures of cats. Alice specialised in still life. She was one of six children, and her older brother Alfred Ronner and younger sister Emma Ronner also became notable painters. Along with her mother and sister, she became a member of the Cercle des Femmes Peintres, an artist's society in Belgium set up by the painter Berthe Art to give women artists a platform to exhibit their works.