Mary DeNeale Morgan’s long association with Carmel-by-the-Sea began early in the 20th century and lasted until her death some 45 years later. She found the Monterey Peninsula rich and varied enough to sustain her creative energies throughout the better part of her career and seldom looked elsewhere for subject matter.

Morgan grew up in Oakland in a home not far from that of landscape painter William Keith, who encouraged her interest in art. She began formal training at the California School of Design in San Francisco in 1886, continuing her education there until 1890 and returning again in 1892 and 1894.

Morgan initially opened a studio in Oakland, close to her family’s home, but began making regular visits to the Monterey region in 1902. She moved permanently to Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1910 and from there painted the coastal cypress and pine. Although her early works were in tempera and watercolor, by the 1920s she began to work more frequently in oil.

A popular figure in Carmel’s artistic community, Morgan was a charter member of the Carmel Art Association. After Scribner's Magazine selected her as one of the nation’s foremost female artists, the press began referring to her as the Dean of Women Painters. She continued to paint the Monterey Peninsula landscape until the end of her life.