Sir Francis Powell was a painter of landscapes and coastal scenes. Born the son of a merchant at Pendelton, Manchester, he studied at the Manchester School of Fine Art. Powell was more renowned for his watercolours than his oils, helping to found the Royal Scottish Watercolour Society, and becoming its first president in 1878.

Powell retired to Dunoon, Argyleshire, where these autumn landscapes were painted. Applied in a water-colourist's manner, the oil paint on these panels allows the grain of the wood to be seen through the thin glaze of the paint. Expensively framed, each picture probably once hung in Powell's Argyleshire home and depicted scenes from the artist's estate. They therefore serve as a private reminder of his surroundings.