Charles Temple Dix was born in Albany, NY. His painting studies lead him to exhibit at the National Academy of Design from 1857 to 1861.

The subjects of his paintings are primarily that of marine and seascapes, which enabled him to travel along the northeastern coast and to Gibraltar in 1860. Dix applied his knowledge of ships and rigging to his paintings, and honed his skill of depicting realistic views of marine subjects.

Morning at Gibraltar, 1860 exhibits a sailboat and a row boat in the foreground on a placid, reflective sea; several sailboats are aligned in the distant background where a hazy atmospheric Rock of Gibraltar is placed on the horizon line.