Newburyport Marshes: Approaching Storm captures the fragile balance between man and nature and between civilization and wilderness. Depicting saltmarsh haying, an industry that utilized the natural resources of the region, Newburyport Marshes also highlights the way in which nature could turn against commercial activity, suggested here in the threatening band of clouds whose shadows sweep the land. A depiction of a vanishing rural way of life, Newburyport Marshes may also hint at Heade’s ambivalence towards this environmentally taxing industry.