His semi-fantastical work with motives from the coastal landscape in the traditional district of Ryfylke is regarded as one of the peaks of Norwegian painting.

Hertervig studied painting at the Arts Academy of Düsseldorf from 1852, as the private pupil of Hans Gude.

In 1854, due to a cruel prank played by his fellow students, he experienced a temporary mental breakdown, and moved back to the Stavanger area.

His artistic breakthrough was posthumous, coming at the 1914 Jubilee Exhibition in Kristiania (now Oslo), twelve years after his death in Stavanger.

Odd Kvaal Pedersen wrote Narren og hans mester, a documentary about Lars Hertervig in 1987.