Frederick Waugh was first and foremost a seascape artist generating images of pure sea and shore. He visited the shores of the world, and captured them forever in the great paintings he instilled with all the raw, primal emotion he observed where the three realms of sky, sea and world intersect.

With 2,500 seascapes to his credit, Waugh shows his mature and accomplished style in this work, painted early in the 20th century. The slick, coastal shoal rocks invoke an isolated American east coast shore, with deep troughs just off the breakers. The atmospheric sky tries to obscure the rising full moon, which casts the cool glow to the water's froth and the sky's full height. The rocks interplay of shadow and clarity provide the depth of field.

Sketching and working at the shoreline, Waugh often brought the coastal images back for completion to his Province Town, Massachusetts studio, which was built of old ships' timbers.