Theodore Weber was a German by birth, but was mainly formed by his apprenticeship at the studio of the French painter Eugène Isabey. At the age of 45 he settled in Paris, where as a twenty-year-old he had caused a furore with paintings of ships on a rough sea. In 1886 he became the official painter of the French Navy and of the Ministry of the Colonies. He also worked for the publishing house Hachette as an illustrator of maritime books. His oeuvre consists mainly of sea and harbour views in strong weather, under heavy clouds.