Ferdinand Alexander Wust was born in Dordrecht, Holland in 1837. He learned to paint from his father Chistoffel Wust who specialized in portrait and genre scenes. In the 1850s, Wust immigrated to the United States and eventually became an American citizen.

Not long after arriving in the United States Wust set up a studio in New York City which he maintained until at least 1869. Wust painted numerous landscapes of scenes throughout New York and New England, employing a style comparable to revered American landscape painters Albert Bierstadt and John F. Kensett.

He became an Associate of the National Academy of Design in 1861 where he exhibited his work for over two decades. Also during this period, the Brooklyn Art associatio...