Paul Maze was born in Le Havre at the mouth of the Seine Estuary in 1887. Acknowledged as the birthplace of impressionism with its extraordinary light, its port, beach and regattas, Le Havre was a magnet to artists. Georges Braque (1882-1963), Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), Claude Monet (1840-1926), Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) and Pierre-August Renoir (1841-1919) all painted there and it was to have a profound impact on Maze's subject matter, particularly his paintings of regattas at Cowes and Henley.

Speaking in an interview with Wolfgang Fischer in 1967 which was published in A Tribute to Paul Maze The Painter and his time, Marlborough Gallery, London, Paul Maze said:

"First of all I must tell you that we lived within sight of the beaches, with views of the harbour and estuary of the Seine which had been the paradise for painters. In Derain's words there were subjects for pictures by the shovelful... Boudin, Claude Monet, Pissarro painted many of their pictures where, as a boy, I used to accompany my father on walks...he seemed to have the subjects of these painters in his mind as he walked along, describing them with a sort of veneration".