Van der Weyden was born in Boston, and won a scholarship to the Slade School in London at age nineteen. He then studied at the Académie Julien in Paris in 1890-1891, and was one of a number of American artists living and working in Paris, including Sargent, Whistler, Cassatt, and Homer. He exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1900, which the New York Times described as 'unquestionably the finest collection of works by American artists that ever before has been brought together'. 

Van der Weyden lived near Etaples at Montreuil-sur-Mer on the Normandy coast, but at the outbreak of the war in 1914, he left France together with his two elder sons, Hal (aged 19) and Erik (aged 17). The three men tried to join the British Army as American citizens. When advised to 'think again' by an army recruiter in England, the trio went outside to discuss, and then returned claiming they were British subjects. They were accepted. Harry's house at Montreuil, in Allied territory, became something of a home from home to British officers from Haig's GHQ. Harry’s regiment was the Royal Engineers and they put his artistic skills to work, making him camouflage officer, while Hal joined the Royal Fusiliers, and was awarded the MC, and Erik joined the Royal Flying Corps. All three survived and were granted British nationality around 1920. After the war he moved his studio to London, but seems to have travelled often to Italy and France, particularly to the Cote d'Azur where this picturesque painting emulates the serenity of the area and alludes to the peaceful tranquillity of his trips.