Jan Evert Morel was the son and pupil of Casparus Johannes Morel (1798-1861) the portraitist, and like his father lived and worked from Amsterdam for most of his life. He did travel a great deal around Holland and Belgium, and as a popular artist received numerous commissions.

He specialised in paintings featuring the Dutch landscapes and towns, which were generally painted from life with a highly refined style typical of the Dutch Romantic Movement in the second half of the nineteenth century. Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (1803-1862) and Andreas Schelfhout (1787-1870) were undoubtedly a great influence on Morel as a young artist, and it was from this generation of painters that The Hague School took over the Mantel of Dutch painting towards the end of the Century. Unlike many artists he was adept to painting on small panels as well as large canvasses and he nearly always signed his work, although rarely dated it.

His work was exhibited in Amsterdam from 1853 until 1874.

His works can be found in museums in: Haastrecht, Museum Bisdom van Vliet and Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen.