Groenewegen (1754-1826) was a painter and etcher who spent his entire life in Rotterdam. Like his father, he was a ship's carpenter, but lost part of his right leg in an accident, and so took up art. He produced many topographical drawings of Rotterdam, but concentrated on the docks and the River Maas. He also specialised in the depiction of ships. He was influenced by the Dutch artists of the 17th century, such as Backhuysen and Storck, but the palette of this drawing is unmistakeably of his own era.