Edward Louis Lawrenson was a Dublin born landscape painter and etcher, educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He first soldiered with the Connaught Rangers per his family tradition, leaving the army in 1900 to study art in Paris. He studied under Colarossi, Mucha, and in Holland, the American artist, George Hitchcock. He exhibited regularly at the RA from 1907 to 1934 and at the RHA between 1900 and 1934. He designed the one of the first commemorative postage stamps of the Irish Free State to mark the opening of the Shannon Barrage in 1930.

Sognefjord, or Signefjorden, is the largest and the deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland country in Western Norway, it stretches 205 kilometres inland from the ocean. The cliffs surrounding the fjord rise almost sheer from the waters to heights of 1000 meters and more. Edward Louis Lawrenson’s inclusion of barely-visible houses on the side of the water illustrates the enormity of this natural environment – an environment that dismisses any human intervention. The fantastically vibrant pallet that reoccurs on the cliff facades, sky and reflection in the water further represents the inherent sublime qualities of this natural phenomenon.