Andreas Achenbach was a leading nineteenth-century German landscape and marine painter and an important figure in the Düsseldorf School of painting. Born in Kassel, he studied at the Düsseldorf Academy and travelled extensively through northern Europe, including the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Achenbach became particularly celebrated for dramatic seascapes, storm scenes, coastal landscapes and mountainous scenery, combining close observation of nature with Romantic atmosphere. His paintings were widely collected during his lifetime and helped establish the international reputation of the Düsseldorf School.