In the mid-1890s, Vermont-born Farley studied at the Pennsylvania Academy with William Merritt Chase and Cecilia Beaux. In France, he studied with James Abbott McNeill Whistler. When he returned to America, the artist lived in Philadelphia and later moved to Bucks County, settling in 1924 in New Hope.
This beach scene by Farley featuring a fisherman and his catch in the foreground is likely a view of the New Jersey shoreline. The artist’s skill at suggesting the shimmer of morning light on the water and the translucent shallow water close to shore is especially effective.