Twachtman studied in Munich at the Royal Academy in 1877 and in Venice the following year with Frank Duveneck and William Merritt Chase. After returning to America, Twachtman moved to New York and occupied a studio on Washington Square and painted a series of harbor scenes including this painting. The somber, monochromatic palette and painterly impasto of this composition reveal the artist’s gift for evoking the subtleties of atmosphere and mood.