Born into a family of artists, Achenbach was a child prodigy who enrolled in the Düsseldorf Academy before he reached the age of 12. The artist left two years later to enter the atelier of his brother Andreas, a well-established landscape painter known for his highly naturalistic canvases. Oswald traveled to Italy in 1850-1, where he capture the atmospheric effects of sunset and scenes of the local countryside. He painted the Roman Campagna, the Bay of Naples, and the scenic lakes of Italy throughout his career.
