Culverhouse had great success as a painter of scenes from everyday life in the nineteenth century. Born in Rotterdam, he began working in the United States around 1849, establishing himself in New York City. There, he painted charming scenes of people at work and play—families gathered around the hearth, selling wares at market, and skating at twilight. Drawing on the Dutch tradition popularized by Vermeer, Jan Steen, and Pieter de Hooch in the baroque age, Culverhouse created images that captured the spirit of ordinary life.
