Ginner’s painting was made during the Second World War, and shows the City of London in ruins after prolonged bombardment by the German air force. It was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee in December 1941. Although the Committee gave the artist a suggested list of subjects, he chose the subject of Emergency Water Storage Tank himself.  The tank he depicted was situated on a site formerly known as No.222 Upper Thames Street, in London EC4, between Boss Court and St Peter's Churchyard. Ginner's friend Anton Lock said he had been studying the Italian artist Canaletto at the time, and he may have seen affinities between Canaletto’s depictions of Venice and this image of a placid water surface in the midst of the city.

Ginner was born in France, to a family of British descent. He moved to London in 1910 and was affiliated with Walter Sickert’s Camden Town Group and the London Group. Preferring to paint town scenes and landscapes, he established a unique approach to his painting, using thick brushstrokes and heavy outlines. During the First World War Ginner served as a private in the Ordnance Corps, then as a sergeant with the Intelligence Corps and finally as a lieutenant working for the Canadian War Records, making drawings of a munitions factory in Hereford. He performed again as an Official War Artist during the Second World War, specialising in harbour scenes and paintings of bomb-damaged London.

Charles Ginner (1878-1952) was born in Cannes. He lived and worked in London.