Nicolaas Pieneman, grandson of the painter of the same name (1809-1860), was educated at the State Academy of Visual Arts Education and the International Painting Studio, both in Amsterdam. He also worked in Amsterdam for most of his life, except of sojourns in London (1913) and the Dutch town of Zeist (1914). He was a student of the well-known Dutch watercolorist, decorative painter and graphic artist Nicolaas van der Waay. He concentrated on land- and cityscapes, finding his subjects near Amsterdam, on portraits and self-portraits. His work also included a number of paintings with sportive subjects. He was a member of the artists’ associations “Sint Lucas” and “De Onafhankelijken” (The Independents). The latter exhibited their work in the 1920s in the Stedelijk Museum along with that of other innovative artists like Piet Mondrian, Charley Toorop and Jan Wiegers. His sister Johanna Hendrika Pieneman (1889-1986) was also a painter of note.