Although Robert C. Minor was known as the purest American exponent of the Barbizon School of landscape painting, his work was relatively unappreciated throughout most of his life. Minor's career as an artist did not begin until around 1870, when the failure of the family coal business left him with no income. After a few lessons with Alfred Howland, he sailed for England, studying in the London galleries and ultimately, moving on to France for over a year. He lived for a time in the Fontainebleau Forest and was substantially influenced by Narcisse-Virgile Diaz de la Peña. Other Barbizon masters also impressed the developing painter; in 1879 he wrote, "The works of Corot and Rousseau inspired me with the idea of combining the mystery and poetry of the former with the color and force of the latter . . . (Robert C. Minor to "Mr. Pottier," 3 August 1879, AAA 2769). From France, Minor moved to Antwerp for two years where he continued his study under Joseph Van Luppen and with Hippolyte Boulanger. After further travel in Germany, Italy, and England, he returned to the United States in the mid-1870s.
Minor adopted the practice of spending part of every summer in the Adirondack Mountains, and his early paintings were generally woodland scenes. Gradually, however, he became more interested in the sea, particularly during the hours of dusk. By the 1890s, he was spending his summers in Connecticut, where he painted views of the coast. Suffering from a crippling disease, he had become an invalid by age 50. He continued to paint nonetheless, mounting a one-man show at the Macbeth Gallery in 1897.
Minor received a great deal of publicity in 1900 when he witnessed the sale at auction of his The Close of Day, then in the collection of William T. Evans. It sold for $3,050, far more than any price previously obtained by a Minor painting. Newspapers made much of accounts of the feeble artist breaking down in the gallery as his work reached a record price. Five years later, an auction of 109 works from his estate followed his death. Already, however, the interest in Minor's work had waned, and the sale brought in less than had been expected.