Born in 1841 in Kirkdale, England, William Formby Halsall established his career as a marine painter in Boston and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Before turning to painting, he spent seven years at sea as a sailor, an experience that informed his interest in maritime subjects. In 1860, he began studying with W. E. Norton in Boston and later attended classes at the Lowell Institute between 1862 and 1870. Halsall was an active member of the Boston Art Club, regularly exhibiting there from 1879 until 1906. In Crashing Waves at Sunset, he portrays waves breaking along the shoreline beneath a radiant pink and orange sky. A small group of sailboats appears on the distant horizon, their pale sails illuminated by the fading light as Halsall captures the shifting colors and atmosphere of the approaching nightfall.