While he was enjoying critical and commercial success with his paintings of the West, Moran also found inspiration in other subjects. He was an artist of broad interests whose body of work included images based on historical and literary works, marine subjects, pastoral views, and, surprisingly, urban and industrial scenes.

In the 1880s his long-time enthusiasm for marine painting grew stronger following his move to East Hampton, Long Island. From the cottage and large studio he built on Main Street in 1884, the artist had easy access to the beach, where he could study the sea in all its moods. Moran's numerous marine paintings include several shipwrecks-- disasters all too common along the eastern shore of Long Island.