Best known as a marine and coastal landscape painter who captured the varying moods of the water, William Ritschel was an eccentric who dressed in flowered sarong and perched on cypress-covered cliffs in California with brushes and easel.

He was born in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, and was educated at the Latin and Industrial School in Nuremberg. As a young man, he roamed the sea as a merchant seaman, and reflected on canvas what he saw and experienced. He studied at the Royal Academy in Munich as the pupil of F Kaulbach and C Raupp and earned great renown in Europe for his paintings.

In 1895, he emigrated to New York City and from there was nationally recognized for his marine subjects. He was closely associated with Childe Hassam, J. Alden Weir, Edward Redfield, and Willard Metcalf, and others who were pursuing the Impressionist style of painting. He joined the Salmagundi Club and the New York Watercolor Society.

Beginning in 1901, he traveled the West including Arizona where he painted The Grand Canyon and scenes of Navajo country. In 1911, he settled in Carmel, California, where in 1918, he built a studio-home called The Castle, overlooking the ocean. He lived there the remainder of his life, although he frequently traveled including to the South Seas.

He exhibited extensively in the East as well as the West Coast and in 1914, recognized for his marine subjects, was elected a member of the National Academy in New York City.