A coastal scene showing a headland and lighthouse, perhaps Pendeen in Cornwall, in the distance on the right, with rocks in the foreground. The painting shows the view at night, with the glow of the lighthouse beam radiating into the night sky. The presence of the moon is implied by highlights in the clouds and on the sea.

[Albert] Julius Olsson (1864-1942) worked in St Ives in Cornwall and in southern Ireland, and was famous for his moonlight images, landscapes and marine subjects. St Ives was an artistic centre in the late 19th and 20th centuries, paralleling nearby Newlyn. Olsson had a studio overlooking Porthmeor Beach on the Atlantic coast with its huge seas. He painted on the spot and as this image shows, was interested in the depiction of wave formation under the effects of the sun or moon. Olsson was elected ARA in 1914 and RA in 1920. He was in the Royal Naval Reserve during World War I and directed the camouflage painting of warships in Plymouth and Portsmouth dockyards as part of the 'dazzle-painting' scheme invented by Norman Wilkinson, another well-known marine artist. This painting may be the one he exhibited as 'The Lighthouse' (no. 244) at the Royal Academy in 1940.