Carlos de Haes was born in Brussels in 1826 to a wealthy family of bankers. In 1835 he moved with his parents to Malaga, where he studied with Luis de la Cruz y Ríos, a neoclassical portraitist. In 1850 he returned to Belgium to further his training as a pupil of the landscape painter Joseph Quinaux, who encouraged his students to paint en plein air. After traveling through France, Germany and Holland, Haes returned to Madrid in 1855 where, two years later, he was offered the chair for landscape painting at the Royal Academy of San Fernando. Made Academician of Merit in 1861, Haes became an influential figure at the Academy. His student, Aureliano Berruete (1845 - 1912), became one of the leading Spanish Impressionists.

Haes's works are in several major collections including the Prado, National Gallery in London, Museum of the Hispanic Society of Art, Harvard University Art Museums and Philadelphia Museum of Art.