The marine and landscape painter Henry Pember Smith was born in Waterford, Connecticut. Little is known about his life until 1877, when he set up a studio in New York City. Although Smith exhibited regularly at the National Academy of Design, he never became a member of the organization. He painted landscapes in New York state and New England, and traveled to Spain, Italy, and England. Smith also exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and was a member of the American Watercolor Society and the Artists’ Fund Society.