Jervois Glacier lies on the southeastern flank of Mt Elliott and descends into the headwaters of the Arthur River, which flows into Milford Sound in Fiordland. Alfred Baxter often travelled to South Westland and Fiordland to paint alpine scenery. An accomplished amateur artist, Baxter originally painted part-time while managing the family business, Baxter’s Ltd., which specialised in cough syrups. By 1918 however, he had begun to paint fulltime. He worked mainly as a watercolourist and painted outdoors directly before his subject.

Baxter was born in Christchurch and was associated with the family firm for over 40 years. He travelled in Europe from 1924 to 1926 and again between 1929 and 1933, spending time painting with fellow Christchurch artist, Sydney Lough Thompson (1877-1975), in Concarneau during 1932. Baxter exhibited with the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon in 1932 and 1933. He exhibited with the Canterbury Society of Arts, the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts and the Auckland Society of Arts.