Mauritz F. De Haas was a talented marine artist who attracted considerable attention in the late nineteenth century along with his older brother William De Haas. Born in Holland, De Haas studied at The Hague and sold paintings to the Queen of Holland before immigrating to America in 1859. After settling in New York, he was commissioned by Admiral Farragut to paint naval scenes of the Civil War, and he soon gained prominence for his ability to portray the sea in a dramatic light. He exhibited at the Boston Art Club, the National Academy of Design, and the Brooklyn Art Association, as well as the Chicago Columbian Exhibition of 1893 and the Paris Exposition of 1889. Today, his work is counted among the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the New York Historical Society, and the National Academy of Design Museum.