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THE METROPC)LITAN MUSEUM OF ART

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Cover:Palm Iree, Nassau was painted in the winter of 1898 during the artist's second visit to Nassau. The brilliantclarity and depth of color, as well as the effortlessspontaneityof execution, displays Homer's masteryof watercolor.Pencil and watercoloron paper, 2 33/8 X 15 inches. Amelia B. Lazarus Fund, 1910, 10.228. 6 Inside front cover: detail of CampFire (figure 21) 1 *Winslow Homer with his fatherand his dog, Sam, at Prouts Neck. Photographtaken about 1890. Homer Collection, BowdoinCollege Museurnof Art, Brunswick,Maine.

An entiregalleryin The AmericanWing of the Metropolitan is devotedto oil paintingsby WinslowHomer,oneof America's indisputable masters.Homer'scommitmentto the evidenceof his own observations, his development of a technique freefromthe strictures of academictraining,andhis unconventional andinventive imagerygive his workstheirspecialappealandoriginality. Thispublication, which includesnot onlyhis oils but alsoseveralof the finestprintsandwatercolors from the Metropolitan's extensiveHomercollection,suggeststhe breadthof his talent. A numberof the Museum's paintingswereacquiredduringthe artist'slifetime, or soonafterhis deathin 1910throughhis brotherandexecutor,CharlesS. Homer. TheGzzlfStream,perhapshis most famouspicture,was the firstof the Museum's Homeracquisitions. In 1906,whenthe oil wasexhibitedat the NationalAcademy of Design, the academy's jury,whichincludedmanyof the leadingartistsof the day,petitionedthe Museumto acquirethe work, and the Trusteesresponded affirmatively. Between1906and 1911,GeorgeA. Hearn a manwho did muchto strengthenthe Metropolitan's collectionof Americanpaintings,includingthe establishmentof a fundforthe acquisitionof picturesby livingartistsof American citizenship gavefivepaintings,amongthemSevrchlight onHvrborEntrance, Santiago de Czwba (figure34), Northevster (figure25), andMoonlight,WoodlslandLight(figure 22). CharlesHomerpresented the Museumwith the unfinished ShootingtheRapids, Svgzzenvy River(figure39) in 1911,followinga memorial exhibitionof his brother's workat the Metropolitan. A groupof twelvemasterfulwatercolors of primarilytropicalsubjectspurchased in 1910aftertheartist'sdeathwasa significant additionto theMuseum's collection. AlthoughHomerrefusedall bids for thesepaintings,it was understood that the Museumwouldhavefirstchoicewerethe worksto be submittedanywhere. Charles Homerofferedthe Metropolitan anyor all of a groupof sixteenon generousterms, andtwelvewerechosen,includingsixworksof dazzlinglight, color,andspontaneity that areillustratedin this publication(seecover,figures28, 29, 33, 37, 38). Homer'sachievement as a graphicartistis well represented by some175 works in the Museum's printcollection.Its holdingsincludemanywoodengravings from the artist'sprolificcareeras an illustrator forHvrper'sWeeklyandotherpublications; lithographs; etchings;andtwochromolithographs printedby LouisPrangof Boston. Thepaintings,prints,anddrawings discussed in thefollowingpagesaretestimony to Homer'screativepowerandversatility. Hiswide-ranging pictorialstyleandcoloristic geniushaveearnedhim a placeamongAmerica'sgreatestmasters,and the distinctlyAmerican spiritof hisviewof manandnaturehaswonhimwidepopularity n t ]1S country. Philippede Montebello .

Director

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin Spring 1982 VolumeXXXIX, Number 4 (ISSN 0026-1521) Publishedquarterlycopyright( 1982 by The MetropolitanMuseumof Art, Fifth Avenueand 82nd Street, New York,N.Y. 10028. Second-classpostagepaid at New York,N.Y. and AdditionalMailing Offices. Subscriptions$14.00 a year. Single copies $3.75 Sent freeto Museummembers.FourweeksJ notice requiredfor changeof address.Back issuesavailableon microfilm,fromUniversityMicrofilms, 313 N. FirstStreet,Ann Arbor,Michigan.VolumesI-XXVIII (190$ 1942) availableas a clothbound reprintset or as individualyearlyvolumesfrom Arno Press, 3 ParkAvenue, New York,N.Y. 10016, or from the Museum, Box 700, Middle Village, N.Y. 11379 Unless otherwisenoted, photography by MetropolitanMuseumPhotographStudio.GeneralManagerof Publications:John P. O'Neill. Editor in Chiefof the Bulletin:JoanHolt. AssociateEditor:JoannaEkman. Design:Christianvon Rosenvinge.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 速 www.jstor.org

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VinslowHomer,thesecondofthreesonsof Charles SavageHomerandHenriettaMariaBensonHomer,was bornin Bostonin 1836 and attendedschoolin Cambridge,wherethe familymovedwhenhe was six. His earlyinterestin artwasencouraged by his parents.His mother,a nativeof Bucksport,Maine,was a skillful painterin watercolors, whosestill lifes of flowersand birdswereshownat the Brooklyn ArtAssociation in the 1870s.His father,a Boston-born importerof hardware, sentHomersetsoflithographs byBernard-RomainJulien andVictorAdamfromLondonto studyandcopy.Homer wasneveracademically inclined,andhisartisticinterests requiredpracticalapplication.At nineteenhe became an apprentice at the lithographic firmof J. H. Bufford in Boston,wherethe futurepaintersJosephE. Baker andJosephFoxcroftColewereamonghis co-workers. Afterhe completedhis apprenticeship at Bufford's in 1857,thetwenty-one-year-old Homersupported himself as an illustrator whilepreparing fora careeras an artist. His earlyillustrations, scenesof everyday life in Boston andfarmlife in ruralNew England,werepublishedin 1857 in the BostonweeklyBallom4's PictorialDrawingRoomCompanion andthe newlyfoundedHarper'sWeekly in New York. Inthefallof 1859Homermovedto NewYork,taking lodgingsat the boardinghouse of Mrs.Alexander Cushmanat 52 East16thStreet(now 128East16thStreet). Assertinghis independence, Homerdeclinedan offerof a staffposition atHarper's.Ashetoldhisearlybiographer GeorgeW. Sheldonin 1878,"I hadhada tasteof freedom. The slaveryat Bufford's was too freshin my recollectionto let me careto bindmyselfagain.Fromthe time that I tookmy noseoff that lithographic stone,I havehadno master,andnevershallhaveany."Nevertheless,with the exceptionof two years,he workedfor Hogrper's steadilybetween1857and1875on a free-lance basis(seefigures2, 4, 15, 16, and 20). Asidefromhis apprenticeship at Bufford's,Homer's formalart trainingwaslimited.Accordingto Sheldon, Homerattendeda drawingschoolin Brooklynwhenhe first cameto New York.By 1860 he was suilciently advancedto exhibitfor the first time at the National Academyof Design,New York'smajorart institution, wherehe showeda workcalledSkatingon the Central

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emyunderThomas SeirCummings andtooka month's private lessons withFrederic Rondel,a French andgenrepalnter. "Once a week,onSaturdays [Rondel] taughthim howto handlehis brush,set his palette,

brushes, colors,oils,andvarious equipments andstarted intothecountry to paintfromNature." In 1861Homer tooka studioin theNewYorkUniversity Buildingon Washington Square,wherethe portraitist andgenre palnterEastman Johnsonalsoworked.ThomasBalley

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Whenthe CivilWarbrokeout, Homerbecamean Armyof the Potomac,he visitedits campin October .1F>m 1861and,asmilitary records show,spentamonth-from p t Aprilto earlyMay,1862-onthePeninsular Campaign. :XX ' Thewarwasthesub)ect of Homer's earllest oil paints _ ings. The engravingThe Armyof the Potomac+ >A Shogrpshooteron PicketDgty (figure3)7 aftera painting described asHomer's "first picture inoils,"waspublished inHarper'sin thefallof 1862.Homer's friendtheartist _ / in oils. . . represented a 'Sharpshooter' seatedin a brig top,aimingat a distant'Reb,'a canvas about16by20. I satwithhimmanydayswhilehe worked on it, and remember discusslng wlthhimhowmuchhe couldask forit. He decidednot lessthansixtydollars,as that waswhatHarper paidhimfora fullpagedrawing on thewood." From1863Homerexhibited hispaintings at theNationalAcademy of Designon a regular basis,and,in 18b),

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4- Homer'swar illustrationsdepicted scenes from the home front, camp life (sometimesverging on caricature),and the battlefield. The Warfor tbe lJnion)1862- A BayonetCbargeewith its exaggeratedgesturesand facial contortions, is one of his most expressivetreatmentsof violent conErontation on the field. HarperJJ Weekly6 (July 12, 1862), pp. 440-41. Wood engraving, 135/4x 205/8inches. HarrisBrisbaneDick Fund, 1929, 29.88.3(3)

demician.The sameyear,whichwasthe yearthe Civil Warended, he completedThe Veteranin a New Field (figure5). In contrastto moretraditionalpostbellum Peace works,such as GeorgeInness'sidylliclandscape Museumof Art) of the and Plenty (The Metropolitan the returnto the land sameyear,whichalsocelebrates Homer'simage nature," and man and the "reunionof in formand contentand bearsthe is unconventional hiswork.Theveteran, originalstampthatdistinguishes a solitaryfigureshownfromthe backandsymmetrically at placedin the immediateforeground,is represented a fieldof grain. scythe,harvesting workwitha six-bladed Thefigureis the verticalfocalpointof a starkhorizontal bands. A rich in threesuccessive arranged composition yet restrictedpaletteaddsto the intensityof the image the austerityof the composition.The andcomplements figureis shownunderthe harshlightof a highsun.This bytheartistin hisearlypaintings, lightingeffect,favored quality.The sculptural giveshisfigurestheirpronounced bluesky,a broadlypaintedflatexpanse,providesa contrastto the rich, glistening,burnishedcut grain,executedwith vigorous,fine brushworksimulatingthe shallowspace textureof fallenstalks.The deliberately of the single andmonumentality addsto the prominence figure.Homer'schoiceof a backview hasbeensaidto anduniversalquality"of contributeto the "anonymous a smalldetail,heidentifies theimage,yet,byintroducing theveteranasa formerUnionsoldier.Thecanteenresting jacketon therightbearsa redcloverleaf, on thediscarded the insigniaof the FirstDivisionof the SecondCorps. On his tripsto the front, Homerwas attachedto the one of the regiments Sixty-FirstNew YorkVolunteers, wasoneof theartist's of thisdivision.Theredcloverleaf favoritemotifs, as much probablyfor its personalasasforits valueasa noteof vividcolor;it recurs sociations in Homer'swarpaintingsandaddsa noteof authentic in the besttradetaildrawnfromthe artist'sexperience ditionof realism. To Homer'ssourcesfor the imageareproblematical. his friendof Bufforddays,JosephFoxcroftCole,Homer onceobservedthat "if a manwantsto be an artist, he shouldneverlook at paintings."Homer'sreticenceon the subjectof sourcesandinfluenceandhis avowedinplacetheburdenof proofsolelyon thevisual dependence evidenceofferedby his work. French art, specifically Theextentto whichEuropean firsttripabroad priorto Homer's art,exertedaninfluence observed,Homer's is debatable.As PeterBermingham friendsin BostonandNew Yorkincludedthe mostavid art, andhe hadampleopportunity of Barbizon admirers to studythe subject,if initiallychieflythroughprints. John LaFargereportedthat Homer'seducation,like his

5, 6- Completedin the year the Civil War ended, TheVeteranin a New Field (1865) celebratesman's returnto the land from the battlefield. The insignia on the veteran'scanteen identifies him as a formerUnion soldier. When publishedas a wood engraving, the image underwentseveralchanges, including the omission of the insignia, which createda more anonymousimage of the veteranretiredfrom war. Upper right: oil on canvas, 24Ys x 38Ys inches. Bequest of AdelaideMilton de Groot (1876-1967), 1967, 25 67.187.131. Lowerright: FrankLeslie'sIllustratedNewspaper (July 13, 1867), p. 268. Wood engraving, 4Ys x 61/4inches.

Own,had"beendevelopedfromthe studiesof especially the Frenchmastersof whomtherewereonlya veryfew examplesin the countryas far as paintingwent.... andespeciallythe We hadto dependon the engravings whichgaveus the synopsis verywonderfullithographs, art."Homer'sheroicimage of a greatdealof European resemof the solitaryfarmerat workbearsa superficial blanceto the themeof the peasantlaborermadefamous Millet, one of the leadingfiguresof by Jean-FranSois the Barbizonschool.However,unlikeMillet'sidealized which are rootedin the classicaltrarepresentations, dition, Homer'singenuousimagehasall the deliberate of thefactual,whichleadsto theconclusion imperfections basedon Homer'sstudies that it was in all probability fromlife.

fromtheFront(figure Prisoners sn 1866Homercompleted 10), the workthat establishedhis reputation.An artragicnastatementon America's restingcontemporary Confederate three of a group represents it tionalconflict, prisonersfacingtheircaptor,a Unionofficer.Using a classicalfrie2elikearrangementfor his protagonists, his illustrativeskill in delineating Homerdemonstrates detailof the faces,postures, in the descriptive character; poses,and dressof the figuresHomercreateda series individualportraits.The penetrating of psychologically by the isolation is heightened dramaof theconfrontation dismounted of thesefiguresfromthe sketchilyrendered soldiersin the middledistance.Thedesolatesetting,the sceneof a skirmishor battle, addsto the dramaand of naturein a ravagedstatethat providesa description sharplycontraststo the landscapein rhe Veteranin a New Field Althoughthe earlierpaintingsharesseveral similaritieswith Prisonersfrom the Front compositional and is a canvasof the samedimensions,it was not intendedas a pendant. deThe art criticand painterHenryT. Tuckerman the for war in the scene actual "an as scribedthe work

Union." The paintingwasthe subjectof a comprehensive

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studyby NicolaiCikovsky,who concludedthat, while a specificincident,it was"anentirely it didnotrepresent plausibleand deeplymeaningfulblendof realityand fiction, of actualityand artifice."Recently,however, Confederate thatit represents D. R. Lauterhasproposed ColonelJohn A. Bakerof the ThirdNorth Carolina andtwo southernsoldierscapturedorlJune21, Cavalry FrancisChanningBarlow. 1864, by Brigadier-General offlcerof the Barlow(1834-1896)was commanding FirstDivisionof theSecondCorpsfromAprilto August, 1864. A collegeclassmateof Homer'sbrotherCharles anda familyfriend,BarlowaidedHomerduringhisvisit to the frontin April 1862 and mentionedthe artist in threelettershome.An accountof Homer'sportrait son,reveals byBarlow's of Barlow(seefigure9), provided one typicalaspectof the artist'sworkingmethods."In 1893,"Barlow'sson reportedto the Metropolitan, my fatherFrancisC. Barlow,a couple of . . . friends,and severalother guests of Nelson A. Miles, then commanderin-chief of the U.S. Army, went on a trip out West with GeneralMiles. General Miles and my father hasl served togetherduringthe Civil War,GeneralMilesbeing directly undermy fatheras bothof themweresuccessivelypromoted. He and my fathertold many storiesabouteach other. One story which my fathertold got a very amusing rise out of Miles. During the war Winslow Homer had been at the front and had paintedpicturesof soldiersthere.... One of Homer'spicturesrepresentedsome confederateprisoners being inspectedby a Union officer. Miles was a very fine figure of a man, and my fatherwas nothing specialin this respect.So Homergot Miles to pose for the officer'sfigure. Then when the figurewas finished, Homerput my father's headon top of Miles'sbody, apparentlymerelybecausemy fatherheld higher rankthan Miles. At any rate Miles was seriouslyannoyed.

from receptionthatgreetedPrisoners The enthusiastic theFrontwhenit wasexhibitedat theNationalAcademy of Design in 1866 firmlyestablishedthe artist'sreputation.The criticof the New YorkEveningPostsingled ofstatement," anddirectness ofpurpose outits "integrity . . . whichdistincharacter andits "forcein rendering artwork guishit asthemostvaluableandcomprehensive thathasbeenpaintedto expresssomeof the mostvital "Itis a genuineexample factsofourwar,"andconcluded: of true historicalart the only kind of historicalart in its facts,freefromflimsyrhetoric whichis trustworthy sensible,vigorous,honest."It was splendor; andbarbaric oneof twopaintingsbytheartistshownat theUniversal Expositionin Parisin 1867, whereit receivedcritical acclaim. Latein 1866 Homerwent to Europefor the first time and spent a year in France."Thathe visited the Louvre

Francis 9, 10 (overleaf)*This pencil study of Brigadier-General ChanningBarlow(1834-1896) servedas a model for the Union fromthe Front(overleaf).Pentimenti in offlcerin Homer'sPresoners the painting revealthat Homer originallymeant to follow the fromthe pose of his study, but subsequentlyaltered it. In Prisoners Front,a scene of confrontationbetween a Union oilcer and three highly characterizedConfederateprisoners,Homer presenteda novel and original image of the Civil War. Above:Bust Portrait FrancisChanningBarlow]and of an Officer[Brigadier-General Soldier,pencil, 91/2x 13Ysinches. lnsigniaon Sleeveof Confederate Courtesyof Cooper-HewittMuseum, the SmithsonianInstitution's National Museumof Design. Overleaf:oil on canvas, 24 x 38 inches. Gift of Mrs. FrankB. Porter, 1922, 22.207

and the Luxembourgand the Clunyand the picturegalleries of the internationalexpositionmay be taken for granted,"his earlybiographer,WilliamHowe Downes, reported,"but what he thought of all that he saw there he never told anybody."In Parishe shareda studio in Montmartrewith Albert W. Kelsey,a friendfrom Belmont, Massachusetts,and probablyalso met with his colleaguefrom Bufford's,Joseph FoxcroftCole. Homer visited the Louvreand the UniversalExposition,where fromtheFrontwas on display.He probablyalso Prisoners saw the independentexhibition, outside the exposition, of the worksof Courbet,the leadingexponentof realism, and Manet, whose bold approach,original style, and simplifiedformsmade him a controversialfigure in Parisianart circlesof the 1860s. It is doubtfulthat Homer had the opportunity to see any works by the artists subsequentlyknownas the Impressionists,who did not hold their first groupexhibitionuntil 1874. Similarities ll

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paintin Homer's to worksof MonetandDegasobserved ings probablyoriginatein their commonapproachto the directstudyof napainting basedon observation, ture, and an interestin the effectsof light on form. Moreover,Homerhad in his personallibraryan 1859 The Lawsof Contrastof of M. E. Chevreul's translation Colour(a gift fromhis brotherin 1860anda workhe to as his "Bible").But, unlikethatof his more referred Homer'sworkis Frenchcontemporaries, controversial experienced a world elements, dominatedby descriptive distinct inatangibleway,andthingsdepictedasseparate, entities.Throughouthis life Homer'sartisticdevelopof naturethanto mentowedmoreto directobservation the influenceof the worksof otherartists. orAmateur TheworklongknownasMusicalAmateurs Musicians(figure11), dated 1867, was paintedeither in Parisor immediatelyafterHomer'sreturnto New Yorkthatyear.Thepaintingcanbe identifiedas a work originallycalledThe Studio, exhibitedat the National of Designin 1868,wherea criticfortheRognd Academy groupedit among"thegoodthings."A cellistand Toghle a violinistareshownpracticingin an artist'sstudio.A sheetof musicinscribed"W. A. Mozart"restson the arestackedbehindthe mufloorto the right,canvases siciansto the left andagainstthe backwall, andeasels havebeenput to use as musicstands. of this work,often The distinctiveFrenchcharacter comparedwith paintingsby Degas, is evidentin the andtheexecution.Thesubjects subject,thecomposition, combined of the studioand the musicalperformance, here, were especiallypopularwith the Frenchavantof the musicmakers,absorbed garde.The informality inastudiosetting,is stronglysuggestive in theirrehearsal life. Inaddition,theuseofa strongoverhead ofbohemian the contoursof the forms,the techlight to accentuate roughandsketchlikeby the critics), nique(pronounced the bold simplicityof the composition,consistingof format,andthefragdivergingdiagonalsin a rectilinear in mentarynatureof the imagehavetheircounterparts Frenchart. The effectof Homer'strip to Franceon his painting stylewasneitherprofoundnorenduring,to judgefrom theworkshepainteduponhisreturn.AsLloydGoodrich itselffora briefperiod,chiefly obsened,it manifested in Homer'suseof a lighteror morehighlykeyedpalette

of paint,as to the application approach andhis broader known long painting as the works by such exemplified (figure13).Dated asHighTideorHighTide:TheBathers 1870,this workwasoriginallycalledEagleHead,ManMv whenit wasfirstexhibitedat the National chester, of Designin the springof the sameyear.High Academy andadogona beach. threewomenbathers Tiderepresents A distantsailboat,twobirdsin flight,andsmallfigures on the shoreat the left addminutenotesof anecdotal a desolatescene.Theuneminterestto whatis otherwise thesenseof spacemade image, of the bellishedstarkness tangible,the harshlight, the longshadows,the startled tuckedunder,andwhatBarbara dog, its tailexpressively physicalproximityyet psyas the Novakhasdescribed of the threefigures two of chologicalestrangement themare renderedanonymous contributeto the discriticsrequietingqualityof the work.Contemporary viewing the academyexhibition found the picture quality itsdisturbing Withfewexceptions unsatisfactory. went largelyunnoticed,and attentionwas focusedon the subject,Homer'stechnicalshortcomings,and the costumes.Thecriticfor in the bathers' lackof propriety theNewYorkWorld,oneof the fewnoting"themystery that it was "a well-drawn" of EagleHead,"remarked bathingscene."He concluded but "atrociously-colored ofMr.Homer's thattherewas"noexcusefortheexhibition havenot which experiments originality; in experiments of pictures,butwhichsene yet attainedthesignificance to carefulstudy, onlyto convincethe criticpredisposed of mind." thattheartistis laboringunderanaberration

Tenth vn 1872Homertooka studioin the celebrated StreetStudioBuildingin New York.ThepainterJohn Weirrecalledthe periodin his reminiscences: Ferguson "WinslowHomer,E. L. Henryand I, werethe three youngestmen in the studios.Homerwasthendrawing and strugglingto get out of it to Weekly, forHarper's takeup moreimportantwork.Our relationswereintimate;thatis, asmuchsoasonecouldbereallyintimate Although with Homer,forhe wasof resenedmanner." he lived in the city for sometwentyyears,the urban scene,with a few exceptions,hadno placein Homer's

11 *TheStrdio(1867),paintedin Parisor shortlyafterthe artist'sreturnfromhis firsttrip abroad,reflectsthe influenceof French art on Homer'swork.A cellistin a studiosettingis the subject of a relatedpaintingby the artistcalledrhe Cellist(Baltimore Museumof Art), datedthe sameyearandinscribed"Paris."Oil on canvas,18 x 15 inches.SamuelD. LeeFund,1939, 39.14 15

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paintings and illustrations.The diversions ofcountrylifeandthe ruralscenefashionable were his subjects after thewar. Homerexploredthe worldof summerresorts and watering placesonsummertripsto theWhite Mountains, LakeGeorgeX Saratoga,and LongBranch.The rural sceneprovideda counterpoint to the moreurbane amusements of fashionable resorts,and childrenwere often the focalpointof theserustic SnaptbeWbip(figure17), whichworks. represents a group of schoolboysat play, is one of Homer's best-known compositions. Thepopularity of imagesof childrenfollowing the CivilWarhasbeenattributed at timesto an optimistic prognosis of thenation'sfutureanda nostalgic exercise in lost innocence.What distinguished Homer's handling of the subjectin the 1870s from that of all but a fewof hiscontemporaries washiscandidobjectivity and lackof sentimentalundercurrents. In composition, use of light, modelingof form,and paintingtechniquet Homer followedanestablished formulathatcharacterizes many of his earlyfigurepieces:the placement of figures in the immediate foreground in a friezelike arrangement which ultimatelyderivesfromclassicalartX andthe use of a overheadlight that high, definesform,provides sharp contrastsof darkand light, and createsdense shadows. In SnaptbeWhipHomerprovidedan exuberant image of rural Americathatsatisfiedthe growing demand for works of a nationalcharacter in theaEermath of the Civil War, when Americawas increasingly consciousof its identity andalertedas well to the growing influenceof iHuropean art on ltSartlsts. Itwas worksof this typethat the anglophileHenry James condemnedin a reviewof Homer's paintingsat the National Academyof Design in 1875. Homer's choiceof subjectmatter,James Rejecting provided an accountof his paintingstyle nevertheless that was especially perceptive: 16

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12-14- I-ong known as High Tide:Tbe Bathers(below), Homer's paintillg of three curiouslyestrangedfigureson a beach has been shown at the National MZZJ5.J identifiedas EagleHead, Manchestery on wood Academyof Design in 1870. A small oil painting (left) was a preparatorystudy for the work. Becauseof either cricicism of the pictureor the demandsof popularillustration,considerable changeswere made in the woodcut after the painting (right). The tWO bare-leggedfigureswere renderedrespectablewith drawers; the face of the seatedfigure, given a simperingcupid's-bowmouth, type; the dog becamea more prosaic,fashionablyconventional was replacedby a bathing cap; the headlandwas made less prominerlt; the distant beachwas made more hospitablewith people and bathhouses;and narrativedetails were introduced.Left:oil on panel, 97/16 X 21g4 inches. Bequestof MaryCushing Fosburgh,1978} 1979.135.1. Below: oil on canvas,26 x 38 inches. Gift of Mrs.William Froma Paintingby F. Milton, 1923, 23.77.3. Right: Higb ri WinslowHomerEverySvsrday 1 (August 6, 1870)>p. 504. Wood engraving 91/4 X 12 inches. HarrisBrisbaneDick Fund?1930, 30.75.1(1)

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159 Homer continuedto create illustrations for Harper)Weeklyon a free-lancebasis until 1875. He spent part of the surxlmerof 1873 at Gloucester,Massachusetts,where in extensively he began tO experlment Manyof the illustrationsof that watercolor. Glorester year, includingSbip-BgildingJ Harbor!aboveZare basedon watercolorsand paintingsfrom this ViSit tO Gloucester. Weekly17 (OCt. 1l, 1873), p. 900. Wood engraving,9 x 133/4 inches. Harris BrisbaneDick Fund 1929, 29.88.9(8) HarperJs

16+ Publishedin 1874, the year preceding Rvid Homer'slast contributionto HarperlsS Golony-"HowMany on a Sognd-Swallow Eggs?Jis among his best worlosin the graphicmediurn.A more deliberateapproachtO compositionand the studied disposition of contrastingvaluesof light and darlsdistinguish his illustrationsof the 1870s. The importanceof cast shadows and their function in creatingthe illusion of volurneis evident in many of Homer's illustrationsand paintings, including this engraving.WIth the strong diagonals formedby the figures and the vertical formatsthis is one of the artisttsmost successfulcompositions.Harper'sWeekly18 (June 13, 1874), p. 496. Wood engravtng by Lagarde,133/4 X 9 inches. Harris BrisbaneDick Fund, 1928, 28. 111.6(5)

Mr. Homergoesin, asthe phraseis, forperfectrealism. He is a genuine painter;that is, to see, and to reproduce what he sees, is his only care.... He is almostbarbarously simple, and, to ow eye, he is horriblyugly; but there is neverthelesssomething one likes about him. What is it? Forourselves,it is not his subjects.We franklyconfessthat we detest his subjects his barrenplankfences,his glaring, bald, blue skies, his big, dreary,vacantlots of meadows, his freckled,straight-haired Yankeeurchins,his flat-breasted maidens, suggestiveof a dish of ruraldoughnutsand pie, his calicosun-bonnets,his flannelshirts, his cowhideboots. He haschosenthe leastpictorialfeaturesof the leastpictorial rangeof sceneryand civilization;he has resolutelytreated them as if they were pictorial, as if they were every inch as good as Caprior lingiers; and, to rewardhis audacity, he has incontestablysucceeded.... Mr. Homer has the great merit, moreover,that he naturallysees everythingat one with its envelopeof light and air. He sees not in lines, but in masses,in gross broadmasses.Things come already modelled to his eye.

she lives of blackpeopleweretreatedby Homerin a seriesof worksdrawnfromthe artist'sexperience of theCivilWarandReconstruction andtravelsin theWest Indies.About 1875, a yearbeforethe celebrationof America'scentennial which itself sparkeda renewed interestin art of a recognizably Americaru characterHomerreturned to Petersburg, Virginia,wherehemade studiesof blacks,whichservedas the basisfora group of paintingsproducedchieflyin 1876 and 1877. One of thesewas The Cargival(figure19), calledPreparing for the Cargivalwhenit was shownin Bostonin 1878 andDressingfor theCarnivalwhenit wasofferedforsale in New Yorkin 1879. The pictureis dated1877 and waspresumably paintedfromsketchesmadein Virginia sometwoyearsearlier.Thefocalpointof thecomposition is a rathergrave,preoccupied youngman, flankedby two women,who, with equallydisquietingsolemnity and intenseconcentration, are putting the finishing toucheson his harlequincostume.The fierce, pipesmokingwomanontheright,adominant figurebyvirtue of her positionand her eloquent,expansivegesturein workingherthread,is amongthe morememorable figuresin Homer'sworksandoneof his rarefullyrealized character studies.Thisgroupof threecentralfiguresis subjectto the scrutinyof a clusterof childrendepicted in variousstagesof awe, barelysuppressed elation,and expectancy. Twoof the childrencarryAmericanflags, whichled HarryB. Wehleto conjecture thatthe scene representspreparationsfor the celebrationof Independence Day. Moreover,the contrastingcharacterof the

adultsandchildrenandthe somberness of the manpreparingto playtheclownsuggestundercurrents of meaning beyond the simple preparationsfor a holiday. Stylisticallythe paintingdisplaysseveralfeaturescharacteristicof Homer'searlyworks.The figuresareagain placedin the immediateforeground in the essentially friezelikeclassicalformatHomerfavoredin his early figurecompositions. Thefriezelikearrangement is reinforcedby the woodenfence,whichextendsalongthe widthof the paintingin the middleground.Thedense foliagein the background, interrupted at the right by a groupof framehouseswith tall red-brickchimney stacks,also servesto minimizethe illusionof depth. Homer'suse of a harshoverheadlight to modelforms andto give his figurestheirsculptural qualityis another characteristic feature.Perhapsthe most distinguishing elementin the workis Homer'suseof color.In contrast to the rathermuted,low-keyedbackground, the foregroundfiguresarepaintedusinga wide-ranging palette andcontrasting colorsin theirmostsaturated intensity. The patchlikeapplicationof paint effectivelycomplementsthe brilliantlycoloreddecorative patchesof the harlequincostume,whichprovidean ironiccontrastto the utilitarianpatcheson the clothesof the onlookers. Homer'sfirstrecorded visit to the Adirondacks was madein September1870. Accompanied by thepainters EliphaletTerryandJohnFitch,he stayedat a farmbelongingto a familynamedBaker,nearMinerva,New York.In succeeding yearshe returnedfrequently to the Adirondacks, oftenin thecompany ofhisbrother (:harles, withwhomhesharedaloveoffishing,hunting,camping, and the outdoorlife the wildernessoffered.Bothwere chartermembersof the North WoodsClub, founded nearMinervain 1886.According to the painterRoswell M. Shurtleff,CampFire (figure21), dated 1880, was paintedin KeeneValley,NewYork,in theAdirondacks. Shurtleff reported thatthepainting"wassoreal,awoodsmancouldtell whatkindof logs wereburningby the sparksthatrosein longcurvedlines."Thepaintingwas exhibitedat the NationalAcademyof Designin 1880 anddiscussedin the April1880issueof theArtJournal. Emphasizing Homer'spreference for paintingdirectly fromnatureout-of-doors, SheldonreportedthatHomer occasionally improvised to achievea desiredeffect. His "Adirondack Camp-Fire"is almostan examplein point. He painted it out-doors;but the large tree on the [right], the line of which answersto the line of one of the poles of the tent, is not in the originalscene. He found it elsewhere, buiIt a fire in front of it, observedthe effect, and transferredit to the canvas.With this exception,the composition is a generaltranscriptof the surroundingsof a fire lightedone night while he wascampingin the Adirondacks. 19

17> 18 A chalk drawing(below) servedas the model br two versionsof SraptheWhip(ButlerInstitute of AmericanArt,, Youngstown,C>hiosand The MetropolitanMuseumof Art) painted

fromthe Merropolitarl's versiondiffiers in 1872.The Youngstown painting(above)in the additionof anotherfigureanda Homer'simageof boysat playin background. mountainous

front of a schoolhomecelebratesthe world of childhood with the uncompromisingcandorthat distinguisheshis work. Above: oil on canvas 12 x 20 inches. Gift of ChristianA. Zabriskie}1950, black chalk on green paper, 50 41. Below:S?apthe 93116x 161/Sinches. Courtesyof Cooper-HewittMuseumethe SmithsonianInstitution'sNational Museumof Design W^ips

for the Carniaal(also called The Carnival 19 *Dated 1877 Preparing arldDressingfor tbe Carnival),is orle of a group of paintings of black Americanlife that Homer made froin studies done on a trip to Petersburg,Virginia, in about 1875. Arranginghis figures in friezelikefashion(a favoritecompositionalformulathat the artist also used in Snapthe Wbip), Homer presentsan enigmaticwork that seems to suggest more than the simple preparationsfor a carntval.Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 inches. Amelia B LazarusFund, 1922, 22.220

The accuracyof Sheldon'sreportis debatable.Maxlyof the majorelementsof the paintingarefoundin Homer's wood engravingof some six yearsearliercalledCamping Mogntains,published in Harper's 0 in tbe Adirondack Weeklyon November7, 1874 (figure 20). A quality of alienationsimilar to that seen in Higb Tideis apparentin this work. The fishermenareisolated in theirseparatepreoccupations.The individualityof the self-absorbedseatedfilgureat the right suggests that it

might be a portrait perhapsof Homer'sbrotherCharles. CampFire demonstratesHomer7sskill as a colorist and his strongsenseof surfacedesign. The showerof shooting sparksissuing from the campfire,the ornateyet severe decorativedetailingof berriesandfoliage,andthe forceful compositionaldiagonalsof the shelterand the fallentree create a surfacepattern that is equalled only in such works as James McNeill Whistler'sNocturnes. Albert T. Gardnerobservedin CampFire a prime example of the influenceof orientalart on Homer'swork and suggested that the artist was familiarwith Japaneseprints of fireworks. who flockedto Parisduring Unlike his contemporaries trip to Europein 1881, second the 1880s, Homer,on his traveledto Englandand settled at Cullercoats,a village on the North Seanot farfromTynemouthandNewcastle. The two years spent in England were almost entirely devotedtO watercolorpainting, and the studies Homer producedof the life of the North Seafishermenandtheir 21

familiesfurnished thematicmaterialfora seriesof watercolors,paintings,and etchingsexecutedin the years followinghis returnto America.Noting Homer's"naturaland unstudiedadherence to literaltruth"and his "poweror facultyof seeingthingsin theirintegrity,and of renderingthataspectof themin pictures,"William HoweDownesremarked that'stheentireTynemouth seriesof watercolors waspreciselyas trueto Englishfacts conditionsX andcharacter as the American pictureshad beento Americanfacts,conditions,andcharacter." InsidetheBar Tynemovth (figure23), dated1883,one yearafterthe artist'sreturnto America,is basedon materialgatheredin the fishingvillage.A characteristic featureof Homer'sEnglishstudiesis his monumental andidealized figureof theNorthSeawoman,whoappears hereas the focalpointof a studiedandsomewhatselfconsciouscomposition.Workingin a somberpaletteof blue, brown,and gray watercolorusedopaquelylthe artistrecordedthe changingclimaticconditionsof the NorthSeacoast.Suchworksof the earlyeightiesmark a departurein subjectmatterand style fromHomer's earlygearepaintingsandillustrations andanticipate the superlative marinesof his lateryears. Homerspentthe earlysummerof 1883 in Atlantic City,wherehe madetheacquaintance of membersof the lifesavingcrews.rhe LifeLine(Philadelphia Museumof Art), a dramaticpaintingof a rescuesceneat sea was completedin 1884.TwomonthslaterHomerbeganrhe LifeLine(figure24), the Slrstin a seriesof eight plates madebetween1884and 1889(seefigures26, 27) after hispaintingsandEnglishwatercolors. Theetchingsproducedduringthis periodrepresent a majornew phase in theartist'sgraphicwork.Homer'sstylein theseworks, perhapsunderthe influenceof his trainingas an illus 22

20, 21 CampFire (above)of 1880 accordingto one contemporarycritic, was painted from life in the Adirondacks.Many of its featuresappearedsome six yearsearlier, however, in a wood engraving called CampingOst in the AdirondackMou?Z>ins (left). As is often the case with prints relatedtO Homer's paintings, it has a more pronouncedanecdotalcharacter.In Camp FireJ the tackle basket and net remainto identifizthe fishermensbut many of the narrativeelements present in the print the lake, canoe, dog, and fish have been eliminated. The seated fishermanin the

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painting strongly resemblesboth the centralfigure in Shooting the KapidsJ Saggesay River(figure39) and an earlywatercolorportrait of the artist's brotherCharles.Homer'sstrong sense of surface patternand design, evident in the bold effiectof the shooting sparks,finds counterpartsin Whistler'sNocturnesand Japanese prints of fireworks.Left:HarperJs Weekh18 (Nov. 7, 1874), p. 920. Wood engravingby Lagarde}91/8x 133/4inches. Harris BrisbaneDick Fund 19281 28.111.6(11). Above: oil on canvas, 233/4 X 38l/8 inches. Gift of HenryKeneyPomeroy,1927, 27. 181

22 (overleaf) MoonligbtJ WoodlslandLightwas painted in 1894? some ten yearsafter Homer had settled at ProutsNeck, Maine The subject of this work is precisely describedtn its title. The moon is hidden by clouds, but the effects of moonltght are dramaticallycapturedin the barelyperceptiblegraying of the sky, the light-tinged clouds, and the reflectionson the waterf which are boldly suggested with broadXeloquent brushstrokes.A red light on the horizonfrom the lighthouseon Wood Island supplies the contrastingtouch of red that Homer frequentlyintroduced into his works. Oil on canvas, 305/4x 401/4inches. Gift of George A. Hearn, in memoryof Arthur Hoppock Hearn, 1911, 11.116.2 23

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trator,waschieflydependenton line. As LloydGoodrich observedtdark areasor tonal variationswere achieved by a concentrationof line ratherthanby selectivewiping or inking of the plate in the final printing process.Although his eight plates representa majorachievement in the medium, Homerusedconservativetechniquesand did little experimenting,with the exceptionof the last Lake. known imageXFly Fishing,Sv:rv:nac One of his largest and Slnestetchings is Eight Bells (figge 27), dated 1887 and basedon a painting of the same title from the precedingyear (AddisonGalleryof AmericanArt, PhillipsAcademy,Andover).During 1888 Homerproducedthreemoreplates,PerilsoftheSev:(figure using theCliffs, andMendingtheTearsX 26), A Voicefrom in reverse. compositionsof threeof his Englishwatercolors Homer stayedpart of the summerof 1883 at Prouts Neck, a rockypeninsulaon the Mainecoast, severalmiles south of Portland,and soon afterwardsettled therepermanently.It wasat ProutsNeck thathe foundthe subjects for some of his most powerfulworks. There the artist produceda series of marinepaintings centeredwholly on the dramaof water, coast, and sky. These seascapesa

powerfuland immediateexpressionsof nature(oftenpresented in its less amiable moods) establishedHomer's reputationas America'smajormarinepainter. Moonlight,Woodlslv;ndLight(figure22) done in 1894 is one of this groupof majorseascapes.Downesprovides this accountof Homer'swork on the picture: One night in the summer of 1894 he was sitting on a bench, smoking, with his nephew, in front of the studio. It was a beautifulevening, with quite a sea running, but not much wind. Of a suddenXWinslow Homer rose from his seat, and said: "I'vegot an idea! Good nightSArthur'" He almost ran into the studio, seized his painting outfit emergedfromthe house,andclambereddownoverthe rocks towardsthe shore. He workedthere uninterruptedlyuntil one o'clock in the morning. The picture called "Moonlight Wood IslandLight," was the resultof that impulse and four or five hours'work. . . It was painted wholly in and by the light of the moonSand neveragainretouched. The very essenceof moonlight is in it. Homer dealt with the subject of moonlighta one of the staple themes of romantic imagery, on many occasions

- later aboats Homer's areyears. figurePencil said to ofbe atypical and fisherwoman watercolor of Cullercoars, with 153/8 basket x 28% although in inches. hand. the The Giftwork flanking of ,

England, in 1881-82 23 *The studies Homer made in CullercoatsX of North Sea fishermenand their families providedsubjects for works in later yearssuch as the painringat the left. Dated 1883, it was originallycalled lnsxdetbe Bar when exhibited in the same year at the AmericanWaterColor Society.The focal point of the rathercontrivedand slightly asymmetricalcompositsonis

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24 In 1884 Homer completedTbeLife Line(below), the Elrstof a seriesof eight plates etched between 1884 and 1889 after his paintings and English watercolors.7SheLife Line is based on a .gM painting (PhiladelphiaMuseumof Art) Homer completed in 1884. >a The subject was suggested by Homer'sstudy of rescue :: operationsin England, and of those at Atlantic City sn the early X.& 00--Â˘it summerof 1883. it iS a vivtd representationof man's struggle * WB with nature one of the artist's recurrentthemest Etching} : S127/8 X 173/4 inches. HarrisBrisbaneDick Fund 1924 24.39.1 <l0w5w _

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27 *Eigbt Bells (below) was etched in 1887 and basedon a painting of 1886 (AddisonGalleryof AmericanArt, Phillips Academy, Andover,Massachusetts).Unlike TheLif Line (figure 24)) whose impact derivesfrom its dramaticcontent, EightBells effectively interpretsthe routineactivity of two seamentaking observationswith a sextantand a chronometer.The asymmetricalcomposition the translationof forms to patternsof light and dark, and the sculpturalquality of the figuresgive this work a monumentality that distinguishesit as one of Homer'sfinest etchings. Etching, 19-3/sx 25 inches. HarrisBrisbaneDick Fund, 1924, 24.39.4

28 (overleaf)*A W4IIJ Nassav (1898) epitomizes Homer's complete commandof the watercolormedium. With transparent washesand parts of the white paper left in reserve,Homer suggested the play of tropicalsunlight on the irregularsurface of a wall. Vivid-redfrangipani,painted with a quick brush and expressiveeconomy,providerich punctuationsof contrastingcolor against the blue sky and reflect Homer'sfine decorativesense. Watercolorand pencil, 143/4 x 21l/2 inches. Amelia B. LazarusFund, 1910, 10.228.9

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29 *One of twelve watercolorspurchasedby the Metropolitanafter the artist's death from a group he consideredhis best?Sloop!Bewnvia dates from a trip to that island in the winter of 1899. Here, Homer suggests an approachingstorm in the swift gatheringof dark clouds and capturesthe spectaculareffectsof tropicalwaters. Watercolor and pencil, 15 x 21l/2 inches Amelia B. LazarusFund, 1910, 10.228.3

flourish most evidentin the almostpurelyornamental of thecrestingwaveat rightof centerandthecalculated formof the cloudof spraydominatingthe left side of composition. the asymmetrical Beginningin 1884Homeroftenwentsouthto Cuba, orFloridato escapetheharshnorthern Nassau,Bermuda, He devotedmostof his time on thesetrips to winters. dating painting.Thewatercolors fishingandwatercolor fromhis trips southduringthe 1880s the 1890s,and theearlyyearsof thetwentiethcenturyarecharacterized and, alongwith his watereiects by brilliantcoloristic Homer's represent andCanada, colorsof theAdirondacks workin the medium.One groupof watercolors, finest which Homerconsideredhis best work, was kept at ProutsNeck,andtheartistrefusedalloffersto partwith thesepictures.Afterhis death,twelveof theseworks, BahoFmvs includingPozlmTree,Nvxsvg(cover),Hgrricozne, (figure 28) all dated (figure33), andA Wall, Notssozg 1898, Sloop,Bermgda(figure29) andFlowerGardenand (figure38),of 1899,andFishingBovtsJ Bermgdoz Bgngalow, by the Key West(figure37), of 1903 werepurchased second Homer's tan.A WallnNassvgdatesfrom Metropoli of color, ViSit tO Nassau,in 1898. The brilliantclarity of the the effectof the dazzlinglight and atmosphere of executiondemspontaneity tropics,andthe efiortless Homer'smasteryof the watercolormedium. onstrate of his strong,clearcolors Homervariesthe saturatlon washes fromtheopacityof the foliageto the transparent of the sky and the wall. The opulentcontrastof red Homer's againstthe blue sky demonstrates frangipani color.The of contrasting acutesensitivityto the effiects washesof grayandthe with transparent wall, rendered whiteof the paper,dominatesthe compositionof this InPoglmTree,Nassavand luminouswatercolor. unusually BabamvsHomerdealswith the tropics in a Hzgrricane, mood.In the bestromantictradition,thevivid diffierent sharply contrasts beautyofthetropics in P;lm Tree,Ncgssvg with the suggestionof impendingviolenceevidentin -thewindblownpalmtree and the red flag in frontof thedistantlighthousesignalinga stormwarning.Using a low-keyedpalette in HgrricvreJBahamvI,Homersuccessfullycapturesthe ominouscharacterof a tropical the scenewith gatheringgray storm,whichtransforms witha quick,fluent palmsexecuted cloudsandwindswept brushabovea clusteredcomplexof rooftops. Dated 1899, The Gglf Streotm(figure30) was based largelyon studiesHomermadeduringhis firsttrip tO the Bahamasin the winterof 1884-85 andon whatis thoughtto be his secondvisit tO Nassauain the winter wasnotbegununtil of 1898-99.Thepainting,howevert of 1899,whenin a letterto JohnWs Beatty September Homerreported:"I paintedin watercolorsthreemonths

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Homer made in the Bahamasand Nassau. A deliberately enigmatic and romanticwork, it presents some striking parallelstO earlierrepresentationsof catastrophes at sea such as J. S. Copley'sBrookWatson and theShark(right) of 1778 and J. M.W Turner's The SlaveShip(left), exhibited in Londonin 1840. Homer was undoubtedlyfamiliarwith both. Although he avowedthat the subject of TheGulfStream "is comprisedin its titley't the provocativenatureof the scene suggests more than a prosaicdepiction of theNorth Atlantic current. Above: oil on canvas, 28Ys x 49Ys inches. WolSeFund, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, 1906, 06.1234. Left:oil on canvas, 353/4 X 48 inches. Henry Lillie Pierce Pund, 99.22. Courtesy Museumof Pine Arts, Boston. Right: oil on canvasX247/sx 30Ys inches. Gift ofMrs. GordonDexter, 1942, 42.71.1

last winter at Nassau, & have rsowjust commencedarranging a picture from some of the studiesÂ˘" In rhe GglfStreamHomer returnedto the theme of the confrontatiorlof man and nature which found tts chief expressionin his works dealing with the sea. A theatricalwork in the romantictradition replete with the narrativedetail that recalledHomertsearlywork as an illustrator TheGglfStream shows a blackman adrift on a dismastedsloop circled by sharksand threatened by a distantwaterspout.The auraof impendingtragedy in the da2zlingsun-drenchedbrillianceof an otherwise idyllic tropicalsetting and the manSsstoic resignation to his fate heighten the pronouncedtalmost excessive pathos of the drama. At the urging of HarrisonS. Morris, then secretary and managingdirectorof the PennsylvaniaAcademyof the Fine Arts in Philadelphiafwho telegraphedHomer that '4thegreatestAmericanArt Exhibitioncan not open without an examplefrom the greatestAmericanartist," Homer sent the canvasfor exhibition in 1900 together with a note instructing Morrisnot to let the public poke its nose into my picture." In September 1900 severalmonths afterthe close of the exhibition, Homer wroteBeatty:S4Ihavepaintedon the picturesince it was in Philadelphia& improvedit very much (more of the Deep Seawaterthan before).' A comparisonof the work as it now appearsanda photographof the paintingbefore reworking reproducedin the catalogue of the PennsylvaniaAcademyexhibitionand elsewhereyshows that Homer'schangeswere not solely confinedto the sea. In addition to changesat the upper lefc which made the assertivedesign of the baroquecompositionmoresubtlet the starboardgunwale shown intactin the earlyversion, is nowbroken?anda sail hasbeenaddedoverthe gunwale; the waterline formerlycontinuousand possibly originally delineatedin black has been replacedby a dash of vivtd red. The nameof the vessel-ANNA KEY WESTnow clearlyappearson the stern and a ship has been introducedon the distanthori20nat the lefc. The changes Homer made strengthenedthe alreadystrong narrative characterof the work. Exhibitedin this alteredfinalstate at the CarnegieInstitute in Pittsburgh in 1900-1901 and then in New Ybrkwith a record asking prIce of 54?000 the painting did not sells either becauseof the price vr the natureof the subject. A requestfor arsexplanationof the work provokeda characteristicresponse fromthe artistXwho wrote Knoedlerin February}1902: I regretverymuchthat I havepainteda picturethat requires any description The subject of this picture is comprised initstit 8 I will referthese inquisitiveschoolmam'msto Lieut Maury [presumably Matthew Fontaine Maury and navalof(1806-1873) a Virginia-bornoceanographer

339 Dark clouds and windblownpalms towering above a group of rooftopsevoke the violenceof a tropicalstorm in Hxrricane, Bahamcts, of 1898 The brilliantcolors that characterizeHomer'sCaribbean works are muted in this expressivewatercolor.Watercolorand pencil, 14l/2x 21 inches. Amelia B LazarusFund, 1910 10.228.7 38

ficer, whose classic studiesof wind and oceancurrentsand publicationson navigationearnedhim an internationatreputation].I havecrossedthe Gulf Streamte? times& I should know something about it. The boat & sharksare outside mattersof very little consequence.They havebeen bbwnoxt toseabya hrricvreu can tell these ladies that the unfortunatenegro who now is so dazed & parboiledX will be rescued& returnedtO his friends and home & ever after live happily. The G<f Strea?nremaitledunsold until 1906> when it was shown in the winter exhibition of the National Academyin New York.A petition to the Metropolitan Museumwas drawnup and signed by all the members of the Academy?sjurySurging l'the acquisitionof this pictureas a most notableachievementof Americanart,," and the Museumrespondedby pgchasing the painting. lleviews of the work at the Academyexhibitionwere mixed. Some critics devoted as much attention to the Museum?srole as an arbiterof contemp{rarytaste as to a discussionof the paintitlg.The New YorkWorld noted that it was 'snaturallythe center of attraction"because the Museumpurchasedit 'but it was by no meansthe best painting on view.'>The New YorkHerald reported: "Theselertionand purchaseof The Gulf Stream)artists believeyis an indicationthat the MetropolitanMuseum realizesits duty towardcontemporaryAmericanart.'> A work rooted in the romantictradition Xhe Gxlf Streamlooks back to such celebratedepic treatmentsof maritimedisastersas John S. CopleytsBrook Watson and theShark(NationalXllery of Art; MetropolitanMuseum of Art figure 32; Museumof FineArts Boston;Detroit Instituteof Arts) andJ. M. W. Turner'sTheSlaveShzp (Museumof Fine Arts Boston figure 31) works that Homerunquestionablyknewand that providesome tantalizing parallelsto XheGslf Strfsm. Copley's well-known history painting executed in Londonin 1778 was basedon an incidentfrom the life of the English merchantBrookWitson) who lost his leg to a sharkin the Havanaharborin 1747. Copley'srealisttc approach the romanticallygruesome subject the expressivenessof the baroquecomposition,the Caribbean setting the presenceof a blackfigurein the rescueboat, and the resemblanceof the sharkat the right to one in Homerys workareamongthe featuresCopley'sworkshares with TheGxlfStream. Moreover it is highly likely that lSomer was familiarwith Copley'spainting stnce the Metropolitansversionwas exhibitedin Boston in 1874> andthe versionnow in the Museumof FineArts) Boston was acquiredby that museum in 1889. J. M. W. Turner1sTheSlaveShipaoriginally called

SlaversThrowing Overboard theDeadandtheDyz7ag-Typhoon Comzgg On>was first exhibited at the Royal Academy 39

34-36* In 1885, Homer made severalstudies of MorroCastle, the Spanishcolonial fort at the entranceto the harborof Santiago de Cuba. These works, including the drawingabove, in 1901 servedas models for Homer'sunconventionalpainting (upperleft) of Santiagounder blockadeby the United States Squadron during the Spanish-American War of 1898. In a 1901 letter to a patron, Homer encloseda sketch (lower left) that indicated the picture's"point of view" in the context of the entire harbor but gave little warningof the artist's unusualrepresentation. Showing the parapetof the old fortresswith its obsolete cannons and a watchtowerin the light of the moon and the searchlight of the blockade,Searchlight on HarborEntrance,Santiagode Caba was as novel and innovativea depictionof a recenthistoricalevent as Prisoners fromthe Front(figure 10) and demonstratedthe originalityof Homer'sbest works. Upper left: oil on canvas, 30l/2 x 50% inches. Gift of George A. Hearn, 1906, 06.1282. Lowerleft: Winslow Homer to ThomasB. Clarke,postmarked Dec. 30, 1901. SmithsonianInstitution, Archivesof American Art, MiscellaneousManuscripts:Homer. Above:Rampartsof Morro Castle,Santiagode Cuba, pencil on paper, 47/8 X 77/8 inches. Courtesyof Cooper-HewittMuseum, the SmithsonianInstitution's National Museumof Design.

in 1840, within a month of the opening of the AntiSlaveryLeagueConferencein London.For twenty-eight years,rhe Slogve Shipwas in the collectionofJohn Ruskin, a leading forceon the internationalculturalscene, who extolled its merits in numerouspublications.In 1873 it enteredthe New Yorkcollectionof John TaylorJohnston and subsequentlya Boston collection. On loan for severalyears to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, it was purchasedby that museum in 1899, the same year Homerpaintedrhe GulfStreogm. Homerwasundoubtedly familiarwith Turner'scelebratedpainting, andrhe Gulf Streogm sharesseveralfeatureswith rhe Slogae Ship: the spectacularbeautyof the setting and the horrorof the subjectand the parallelsuggestedbetweenthe receding ship in Turner'swork and the ambiguousship on the horizonin rhe Gulf Streogm. Despite Homer'sinsistencethat the subjectof his picture "is comprisedin its title,"TheGulf Streogm presents what SidneyKaplandescribedas the "masterpiece of the black image the deathless Negro waiting stoically, Homericallyfor his end betweenwaterspoutand whitebellied shark."A deliberatelyenigmaticwork, rhe Gulf Streogm presentsan unresolveddrama,which, as Bryson Burroughsobserved,"assumesthe proportionof a great allegoryif one chooses."Althoughfor its time the painting is curiouslyreactionaryin its romanticcharacterand 41

a CQnCernS, it iS nevertheless narrattve excessive in suband audacity workofcalculated of color andin the urwrestrained ject?in the intenstty energyof execution almost

elemental

Vring

viSit Homer's

power

and Cubain Febrmry

March1885, he madeseveralstudies of MorroCastle Museum,New rk; ArmyMess?United (Cooper-Hewitt the West Pointy New rk) Academy, States Military late sixteenth-cellturyfort built by the Spanishat the entranceto the harborof Santiagode Cuba. It was not until 1901 that Homer returnedtO the subject, using his studies fraran unconventionalpainting of Santiago under blockadeby the tinited States Navy during the Wir of 185>8(figure34). The Spanish Spanish-American fleet was defeated but a controversyaroseover which Americannaval oiscer-Winfield Scott Schley of the Flying Squadronwidely acclaimedas the popularhero William ThomasSampsonof the North or his AtlanticSquadron -shouldbe credttedwith the rictorys A court inquirywas convenedand testimonyheardfrom September12 tO December12 1901. UltimatelySampson} who had been in official command, recelvedrecThe court inquiry;extensivelycoveredin the ognltion. of the eventsof the blockreplay press provideda virtual ade. It was the month-longvigil of the Americansquadron that Homer ?mposed to paint in 1901. In a letter tO Knoedler'sdated December30 he reportedthat he was about tO ship hts painting adding) "This is just the time tO showthat pictureas the subjectis now before the people.' In a letterpostmarkedDecember30 1901,tQ Thomas B. Clarke one vf Homer'smajorpatronsand the chairmarlof the art committeeof the Union LeagueClub in New Ybrk}wherethe paintIngwas first shown Homer reportedthat the paintingwasfinishedandhe wassending the Et to the work.>'He encloseda sketch (figure Light on HarborEntrance/ 35) inscribed"TitlEl'Search Santiagode Cuba.>/WinslowHomer'>and addeda postscript:"If you think that this is too much of a titleit-'Harbor EntranceSantiagode Cuba.' $' catl you may Carefullylabeledwith the words'spicket>""Entrancet' and "MorroCastle,'*the sketch showedpicket f'mooIl>*) boats, includingone with a searchlightdeployedaround the harborentranceof Santiago,a filll moon and Morro Castle part of which was set off with a frameand inscribed'Point of view of Picture."In what was a rare act for Homer he provideda literalkey to the painting one that in no in this sketch but characteristically, superiorb

37 *FishingBoatsJKeyWestdates from a YiSit of 1903. The brilliantly dazzling effiectsof sunlight on water and the white boats and the radiantquality of the high-key palette Homer used in this work are characteristicof his series of watercolorsfrom Key West. Watercolor and pencils 14 x 215/4inches. Amelia B. LazarusFund, 1910, 10.228.1

painting,

was vividly

described by Sampson, who noted

;

way preparedClarkefor the actual unconventional representation

, .N;

Homer'sworkpresentsa view of the parapetof the old colonialfortress,with its obsoletecannonsand a by the lightof a halfmoon,and watchtower illuminated the blockwhichrepresents the glareof the searchlight, ade. The searchlight,an intrinsicfeatureof Homer's

X .,.B;

. '

. ,itk,.,^

|;;y

in an articlepublishedin 1899:"Thescenewasa very _ ,/,,,g _A w S,Â˘ impressiveone, the path of the search-lighthavinga _ certainmassiveness,and the slopesand crownof the ofsilver." Morrocliffbeinglightedupwiththebrilliancy paletteof black,gray, _ The essentiallymonochromatic slateblue, andwhite, the austerityof the pared-down composition which,with forms,andthe asymmetrical the abruptcroppingof one cannon,betraysHomer's formatfavored familiarity withthe radicalcompositional to the monumental by the Impressionists-contribute effectiveness of the work.Oneof Homer'smostabstract a starx _ tradltlon,lt presents composltlons ln theromantlc imageof ominouscalm. Shownat the UnionLeagueClubin New Yorkfrom January9 to 11, 1902, the workattractedconsiderable Sunreported: criticalattention.The New YorkEvening "Itwasan impossiblesubject,andwe will not saythat Mr. Homer,with all his genius,hasmadeit beautiful, forbeautyis hardlythe wordto describethe rudeforce thatis in thissilentold fortaboutwhichthesearchlight withinthemeaning sweeps.Butif it is notatallbeautiful of the wordit is almosteverythingelse."Homer,in a letter to Knoedler's,datedJanuary14, 1902, replied: "ThatSantiagode Cubapictureis not intendedto be for 'beautiful.'Thereare certainthings(unfortunately critics)that are sternfactsbut areworthrecordingas a matterof historyas in this case.This is a smallpart overthe Harborentrance of MorroCastle& immediately whichis only about400 feet wide-& fromthis point wereseenall the stirringsightsof June & July 1898. He requested$2,200 for the work I find it interesting." "withregret,as,"he noted,"Ishouldhavemoremoney, but the doctors& lawyersmust take the cakeas the _ ArtistsaremostlyD F ." powerfulworkandan unusual Both an aesthetically I _ Entrognce, Sogntioggo _ onHogrbor historypainting,Seogrchlight __ deCgbog wasperhapsintendedto suggestmorethanthe of Santiago.Thecontemporary merefactsof theblockade art criticandhistorianFrankJewettMather,Jr., summarizedit succinctly: .

prettywell defies Sogntiago The strangebeautyof Searchlight, analysis.... For me this is one of the most fascinating pictures painted in my time. Most of Homer'swork has 44

.' *

J)Wt.a

Garden view of the tropics, Flower 38 A vibrantlycolored, sunny visit winter a on 1899 in painted andBangalow,Bermadawas cover). In this and other watercolorsmade to Bermuda(see inside back south, Homer succeededin the during his winter trips to watercolor, tropicallight. Pencil and capturingthe brillianceof 10.228.10 1910, Fund, Lazarus 14 x 21 inches. Amelia B. 45

,,,

390 Begun in 1905, Shootingthe Rapids,SagaenayRiverwas based chiefly on two watercolors (one now in the BrooklynMuseum, the other unlocated)that Homer made of the SaguenayRiver in 1902 on his last known visit to Canada.The artist's brotherCharlesmay well have servedas the model for the passenger.Although the work is unfinished, the majorelements of the dynamic compositionhave been establishedand the figures nearlycompleted. The backgroundmountainsand the rushing river are blocked out as broadmasses, and the shooting spray topped with white crests is painted with quick brushworkin some areasand is refined into stylized decorativeforms in others. Despite the calculatedcharacterof the work, Homer effectivelyconveysthe unrestrainedenergy of the sweeping rapids. Oil on canvas, 30 x 481/4inches. Gift of CharlesS. Homer, 1911, 11.57 46

Z 1

a wholesome,often a heroicobviousness,and overtonesare generallyabsent. Here there may be overtones, and even symbolism,in the contrastof the handsomeold guns which areno longerweapons,but which aremuseumpieces, with the sharpbeamof the searchlightwhich tells of the sinister . While sucha thought eElciencyof modernscientificwarfare may not have been in Homer'smind as he planned this masterpiece,it does not seem alien to his thinking.

At the time of Homer'sdeath in 1910, the painting Shootingthe Rapids,SvguenvyRiver(figure 39) was left unfinishedin his studio. The work, with contemplated revisionsin the foregroundwaterand in the positionand poseof the figurein the sternindicatedin chalk,provides a rareexampleof Homer'sworking methods. Homerfirst visited the provinceof Quebec, in which the SaguenayRiver is located, in 1893. Drawn by the excellentfishing and a wildernessmore isolatedand reHomerandhis brotherCharles motethantheAdirondacks, joined the TourilliFish and Game Club, a sportsman's havennearSaintRaymondon the shoresof LakeTourilli severalmiles northwestof QuebecCity.On a subsequent excursionto the Canadianprovince Homer discovered Robervalon the south shore of Lake Saint John some 120 miles north of Quebec City. Accessibleby a canoe trip up the SaguenayRiver, it becamea favoritehaunt. Homer'sfirst trip to the Canadianwildernessin 1893 was apparentlyprimarilyconfinedto fishing. Latervisits weredevotedto both paintingandfishing. The Canadian wilderness,anglersplayingfish, canoesshootingthe turbulentrapids,andthe life of the FrenchCanadianwoodsmen and MontagnaisIndianswere subjects of a series of watercolorsand monochromesdating from 1895 to 1897. In these works Homer demonstratedhis comprehensivecommandof the mediumandcaughtthe characteristicqualitiesof light, color, and atmosphereof the Canadianwilds with the same veracityas he used to characterizethe north woods and the tropics. During his last knowntrip to Canada,in August, 1902, Homer painted a group of watercolorsat LakeSaintJohn and on the SaguenayRiver.Severalof theseworkslaterserved as models for ShootingtheRapids,one of his last oils. A self-sufficientandreservedman, Homerfirstrealized his desire for a solitarylife in his retreatto Maine in the 1880s. His satisfactionwith this life is expressedin many letters to his family and friends. In a letter of 1893, recordedby Goodrich,to the Bostonlithographer Louis Prang, Homerwrote:"I deny that I am a recluse as is generallyunderstoodby that term. Neither am I This is the only life in which an unsociablehog.... I am permittedto mind my own business. I supposeI am todaythe only man in New Englandwho can do it. I am perfectlyhappy & contented."

NOTE Page S "At nineteen . . .": LloydGoodrich,WinslowHomer(New York, 1944), p. 6. ". . . free-lancebasis"*Ibid., p. 11, and GerdonHendricks,rhe Life and Workof WinslowHomer(New York, 1979), p. 36. Sheldon,AmericvnPainters(New York, 1879), p. 27. 6 Ibid., p 28. 'iIn 1861 . . .": Xodrich, Winsl Homer.,p. 12. T[homas]B[ailey]Aldrich,"Amongthe Studios-III," OurYoung Folks,July 1866, p. 395. A military pms issued in Homer'snarne,dated Oct. 15, 1861, is in the StrongMuseum, Rochester,New York,and illustrated in DavidEtham, C'Winslow Homer'sLibrany,'7 Ariaan ABJournal 9 (May 1977): 96, fig. 4. A secondpass, dated April 1, 1862S is in the collection of the Bowdoin College Muwum of Art, Brunswick,Maine,andillustratedin WilliamHoweDownes, rse Lifeand WOrks of Wxnslow Homer(Boston, 1911),opp. p. 34. R[oswell] M[orse] Shurtlefi; letter to the editor, AmericvnArt Ne2vs9 10ct. 29, 19103:4. 8 "reunionof man and nature"and"anonymousand universalquality": John Wilmerding, WinslowHomer(New York, 19723, p. 47. redcloverleaf:Nicolai CikovskytJr., "WinslowHomer'sPrisoners from the Front,"Metropolitan Museum Journal12 (1977):16>61, fig. 7, identifiesthe insignia as it appearsin Homer'sPrisoners fromthekxnt. "To his friend . . .": Goodrich,Winsl Homer,p. 6.

TheRevolleaions ofJohnPergxsor WeirJ ed. by TheodoreSizer(New Yorkand New Haveny1957), p. 46. 19 HenryJawnes,Galaxy20 (July 1815): 93-94. H[arry]B. W[ehle],"EarlyPaintingsby Homer,"Bulletin of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 18 (Feb. 1923): 41.

21 22

"Homer'sfirst recordedvisit . . .": Ckodrich, Winslaw Homer, p. 57. Shurtleff, letter to the editor, Ameriaan Art News9 (Oct. 29 1910):4. Sheldon, t'Sketchesand Studies, II," ArtJoxrnal,n.s. 6 (April 1880): 107. Gardner,Winslow HoarwAmyicvn Artist:HisForldandHisWork (New York, 1961), p. 204. Downes,TbeLifeandWorks ofWinslow Homera p. 105. ForHomer in England, see William H. Gerdts, "Winslow Homer in Cullercoats,'}YaleUniversity Art GalleryBulleWn 36 (Spring 1977): 18-35. ForHomer'swork in graphics,see Goodrich,Winslow Homer, pp. 97-100, and Goodrich,TheGraphic Artof Winsl Homer (New Yorlc,1968), pp. 13-19. Downes, rhe LifeandWorks of Winslow Horner, p 173.

WilmontB. Bailey,BiddefordHistoricdS<iety, Biddeford,Maine, to N. Spassky,Feb. 9, 1979, Departmentof AmericanPaintings and Sculpturearchives, MetropolitanMusellm, supplies informationon Wood IslandanditS lighthouse,firstput into operation in 1808. National Collectionof Fine Arts, Washington7D.C., Ameriaan "In December1900 . . .": Quoted in Goodrich,Wxaslow Homer, Art in theBarbixonMood(1975),exh. cat. by PeterBermingh, p. 171. pp. 52-54, 144-46. 35, 37 Homer to Beatty: Ibid., pp. 161-62. "JohnLaParge. . .": GustavKobbe,"JohnLaPargemd Winslow 37 HarrisonS. Morris,Confessions in Art (Nesv York, 1930), p. 63. Homer," New YorkHeraldwDec. 4, 1910, magazine section, Homer to Kniler: Gedrich, VEiinslow Homer, p. 162. p. 11. HenryT. Tuckerman,Bookof theArtistsw Ameriaan ArtistLif (New 39 Petition [Dec. 12, 1906], Archives,MetropolitanMuseum. York, 1867),p. 491 NewYorkWorld andNewYork Herald: Quotedin PhilipC. Beam, 11 Cikovsky,"WinslowHomer'sPrisonersfrom the Pront,"p. 172. Winslow Homer at Pro$tsNeJ (Boston, 1966), p. 170. Lauterto J K. Howat, April 16, 1979,andLauterto N. Spassky, ". . . Anti-SlaveryLeagueConferencein London":MartinButlin Feb. 16, 1980,Departmentof AmericanPaintingsand Sculpture and EvelynJoll, r Paintings ofJ. M > rXy (New Haven} archives,MetropolitanMuseum.Lauterto Howat, April 16, 1979, 1977), text vol., pp. 214-15. includestranscriptionof Barlowletters in the MassKhusettsHisSidney Kaplan, "The Negro in the Art of Homer and Eakins,2 torical Society. Massaabusetts Review7 IWinter 1966): 112. R. S. Barlow,April 4, 1938, note in Departmentof American B[ryson] B[urroughs],"Principal Accessions,"Bglletinof rhe Paintingsand Sculpturearchives,MetropolitanMuseum. Metropolitan MRSB#m ofArt 2 (Jan. 1907): 14. New YorkEveningPost, April 28 1866, p. 1. I)ownes7TheLife and VEorks of Winsbw 59. 15 M. E. Chevreul:Tatham,"Winslow Homers Library,"p. 93. RogadTable7 (May 2, 1868). 278. Goodrich,WinslowHnerwp. 41. "Dated 1870 . . .": Cikovsky to N. Spassky7Dec. 10, 1978, Department of American Paintings and Sculpture archives, MetropolitanMuseum,notes originaltitle and suppliesreferences to contemporaryreviewsof this painting. BarbaraNovak,Americvn PaintingoftheNineteenth Century: Realism, IdealismJ andtheAmeriaan ExFen (New York, 1969), p. [116]. Nvu Brk World,April 24 1870, p. 3 iI0m^J

42 Homerto Knoedler:Quotedin Goodrich,Enslot HOmerJ P. 173. Homerto Clarke.Winslow HomerPapers Archivesof American Art, SmithsonianInstitution. 44 William T. Sampson}"The Atlantic Fleet in The SpanishWar," Century Magaztne) n.s. 35 (April 1899): 901. @WYork Esting Sanand Homerto Knedler: Quoted in rich, Wi?slowHomer, p. 173. 44-45 FrankJewett Mather Jr., "The ExpandingArena,"Magazine of Art 39 (Nov. 1946): 298. 46 Sfwoting theRatids}Groodrich, Wtaslew Hmne?; pp. 184-85. Homer to Prang:Quoted in ibid., p. 113.

Oppsite: detail of Plower Garden andBungalow, Berrwudw (Slgure38) 48