Maxwell was influenced by primitive art and the work of Paul Klee. The artist helped to organise a Klee exhibition in Edinburgh in the same year as this work was painted. In common with these influences, Maxwell's own art shows a disregard for perspective, a directness, and a selective approach to detail. Maxwell’s painting of this time shares many similarities with the work of William Gillies. They went on painting excursions together and often depicted similar subjects. This painting depicts a Fife fishing village and shows Maxwell’s skilful and playful draughtsmanship.