The Return, Tynemouth

Winslow Homer prints bring the Atlantic coast, working fishermen and summer days in rural America into your home. Homer was one of the great American painters of the nineteenth century. He began as a magazine illustrator, recorded the Civil War, and ended his career painting the sea from a studio on the Maine coast. This collection gathers fine art prints of his oils and watercolors, from sunny schoolyard scenes to storm-tossed waves.

About Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 24, 1836. As a teenager he was apprenticed to a Boston lithographer, J. H. Bufford, and in 1857 he went freelance as an illustrator, drawing for magazines such as Harper's Weekly. He had little formal training as a painter and later described himself as self-taught.

When the Civil War began, Harper's Weekly sent Homer to the front, where he sketched the camps of the Army of the Potomac. His war paintings, including Prisoners from the Front (1866), made his name, and he became a full member of the National Academy of Design in 1865. In 1867 he spent about a year in Paris, where Prisoners from the Front was shown at the Exposition Universelle.

Two moves changed his art. In 1881–82 he lived in Cullercoats, a fishing village on the English coast, painting mostly watercolors of fisherfolk and the sea. In 1883 he settled at Prouts Neck, Maine, where he painted the large sea scenes he is best known for. He also traveled to the Adirondacks, Florida and the Caribbean.

Homer died at his Prouts Neck studio on September 29, 1910. Later American painters, including Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth, looked to his work as a model.

Style and Subjects

Homer is usually grouped with American Realism. He painted what he saw, without sentiment: fishermen at work, children at play, hunters in the woods, and above all the ocean. His early pictures have bright, clear color and simple, strongly outlined forms, a habit from his years making illustrations for wood engraving.

After Cullercoats his palette turned more sober, and his Maine oils have real weight, with heavy surf, grey skies and people facing the power of nature. His watercolors are loose and quick, and the Caribbean sheets sparkle with bright blues and sunlight.

Famous Works

• Prisoners from the Front (1866), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A Union officer faces captured Confederate soldiers in one of the most admired paintings of the Civil War.
• Snap the Whip (1872), Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Barefoot schoolboys play a game in a summer meadow; a smaller version hangs at the Met.
• Breezing Up (A Fair Wind) (1873–76), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. A man and three boys sail a small catboat through choppy, sunlit water.
• The Life Line (1884), Philadelphia Museum of Art. A rescuer carries a woman from a wrecked ship along a rope over heavy seas.
• The Fog Warning (1885), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A lone fisherman rows his dory toward his schooner as a fog bank rolls in.
• The Herring Net (1885), Art Institute of Chicago. Two fishermen haul a net full of silver herring into a pitching boat.
• The Gulf Stream (1899), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A sailor lies on a broken boat among sharks, with a waterspout on the horizon.

Decorating with Homer Prints

Homer's sea paintings are a natural fit for coastal homes, lake houses and any room with a nautical feel. Pictures like Breezing Up and The Fog Warning have strong blues, greys and greens that sit well with white walls, natural wood and linen. Stormier scenes such as The Life Line or The Gulf Stream work best as the main piece on a wide living room or study wall.

For a lighter mood, his rural scenes and children's pictures like Snap the Whip suit family rooms, kitchens and farmhouse-style interiors. His bright Caribbean and Florida watercolors bring warmth to bedrooms and bathrooms, while his Adirondack hunting and fishing scenes look at home in a cabin, den or library.

FAQ

What art movement was Winslow Homer part of?

Winslow Homer is considered a leading figure of American Realism. He painted everyday life and the natural world as he observed it, without idealizing it. He shared an interest in light with the French Impressionists, but there is no evidence they directly influenced him.

What is Winslow Homer's most famous painting?

The Gulf Stream (1899) is probably his best-known painting, along with Snap the Whip and Breezing Up.

Where can I see original Winslow Homer paintings?

Major Homer paintings hang at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, holds the final version of Snap the Whip.

How can you recognize a Winslow Homer painting?

Look for the sea, working people and a plain, honest way of showing them. His oils often set small human figures against big waves, fog or open water, in deep blues, greens and greys. His watercolors are looser and brighter, especially those from the Caribbean.

Related Artists

• Thomas Eakins — fellow American realist and a contemporary of Homer
• John Singer Sargent — American contemporary often compared with Homer
• William Merritt Chase — fellow member of the Tile Club in New York
• Jean-François Millet — Barbizon painter whose rural subjects influenced Homer
• Andrew Wyeth — later American realist influenced by Homer