Hermann Max Pechstein's entire artistic work is closely linked to the sea and maritime life. He spent most of his life, especially the summer months, by the sea. Pechstein visited, among others, Dangast on the Jade Bay on the North Sea (1910), the medieval fishing town of Monterosso al Mare on the Ligurian coast in Italy (1913, 1924), the Pacific island group of Palau in the South Seas (1914), and in later years the Baltic island of Usedom (1949), the Bay of Kiel (1952), as well as the North Sea island of Amrum, the fishing village of Nida on the Curonian Spit (1909-1939) and the Baltic Sea resorts of Leba (1921-1945) and Rowe (Rowy) in what was then Pomerania. The artist visited Rowe for the very first time in the summer of 1927, and would return every summer until 1933. Although Rowe was not far from the popular resort Leba, it was still quite difficult to reach, the easiest by boat and with the help of locals. For many years the town did not have proper roads or even electric light, so tourism and thus car and motorboat traffic only began to increase in the 1930s. However, Pechstein enjoyed the peace and seclusion, and was able to fully focus on his painting during his several month long stays far away from the dramatic political developments.

After an eventful spring with an exhibition at Galerie Victor Hartberg in Berlin, as well as his participations in the spring exhibitions of the Berlin Secession, the Academy of Arts in Berlin, the exhibition of the German Artists' Association in Cologne and an exhibition of the Munich New Secession at the Glaspalast, Pechstein embarked on a trip to Rowe with his family on July 2, 1929. This summer he was particularly interested in the nearby Garder Lake (formerly ‘Gardno See’ / today ‘Jezioro Gardno’) and the surrounding landscape with the ‘Revekol’, a quite striking hill in this flat coastal area, as well as the landscape at the mouth of the Lupow (Lupawa). He spent most of his time on the lake, drawing, painting and fishing for pike. He was a member of the "Wehrfischerei" (Weir Fishermen) in Rowe, and in the present painting he also shows the wooden poles protruding from the lake to which the fishermen attached their fishing traps, the so-called "weirs".
Pechstein recalled in his memoirs: "Early in the morning, before sunrise, I was already on the lake with my boat, captured the sunrises and then fished." (Hermann Max Pechstein, Erinnerungen, Stuttgart 1960, p. 115)
Using cool colors, Pechstein captured the atmospheric moment he experienced, the peaceful calm, the very special lighting atmosphere and the fresh temperatures of the early morning hours and makes it tangible for the observer [CH]