Like many of his artistic contemporaries in early 20th-century California, Percy Gray revered nature, and most of his paintings manifest his desire to preserve the state’s natural beauty. This painting is unusual for the artist, in that it focuses on nature’s destruction, and the detrimental impact that humanity can have on the natural environment.
After studying at the California School of Design in San Francisco, Gray put his skills to work as an illustrator. In 1895, he moved to New York, illustrating while continuing his art training at the Art Students League with William Merritt Chase. Gray would ultimately become best known as a watercolorist, though he at times worked in oil, as is the case in this painting.
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