Son of well-known Philadelphia portrait painter Samuel Waugh, Frederick Judd Waugh was born in Bordentown, New Jersey in 1861. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art with Thomas Eakins and the Académie Julian with Adolph-William Bouguereau. After leaving Paris, Waugh moved to England where he established himself as a seascape painter. In 1908, he returned to the United States taking up various residences in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine. Though his seascapes were highly acclaimed, he also produced paintings and sketches of spiritual or mythological themes. In addition, Waugh was known to generate literary works based on fairy tales and American folklore. In an interview with the New York City paper The Sun (4 November 1916, p. 9), he asserted that he “dreamed dreams and saw visions—real ones”. In 1918, Waugh began his service in the U.S. Navy as a member of the marine camouflage unit, led by Everett L. Warner. Many large ships, such as the Leviathan, were painted according to Waugh’s designs. He died in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1940.