Carlos de Haes was born in Brussels to a family of bankers. The family moved to Spain, settling in Málaga in 1835 when he was six years old. De Haes first studied art with the Neoclassical portrait painter Luis de la Cruz y Ríos, and in 1850, de Haes decided to continue his art training with the great Flemish landscape painter Joseph Quinaux, who taught de Haes until 1855. Quinaux taught him to paint outdoors, and this defined his future artistic direction.

In 1857 he became the first professor of landscape painting at the Academy, and the first teacher in all Spain to teach painting outdoors en plein air from nature.

In 1858, Carlos de Haes received the first medal at the National Exhibition. He was elected ...