Valerie Ann Leeds writes, "Bierstadt, known for his stirring depictions of the American West, painted Ships in the Moonlight early in his career, possibly while he was living in New Bedford, Massachussetts. Depicting ships on a calm sea, illuminated by a golden moon, the work foreshadows in its quiet intensity the epic landscapes for which the artist would later become known and demonstrates the grandeur of vision that is the legacy of the Hudson River School." (Hollis Taggart Galleries, Dreams and Dramas, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2003, p. 17)