Currier was born in Massachusetts, where his father owned a marble cutting establishment. He traveled to Munich and was part of the group of American students at the Royal Academy. American painters working or studying in Munich did not spend all their time indoors in the Academy studios. They also traveled to villages in the German countryside to set up their canvases in the open air. Currier helped other American students at the Royal Academy with their landscape painting during their free time. Currier married and lived for many years at Dachau, where he painted some of his best work.

Currier often painted the dark moors beside the hill of nearby Dachau, recording his views with vigorous, spontaneous brushwork. He applied the subdued tones typical of the Munich School with a remarkable freedom of execution. This landscape, with its rich surface texture exemplifies Curriers emotional response to the powers of nature.

White, Nelson C. The Life and Art of J. Frank Currier. Riverside, California: Riverside Press, 1936.