Winslow Homer1836-1910
• Born in Boston, MA
• Taught to draw and paint by his mother, an amateur watercolorist
• Little formal training
Winslow Homer: Early Career
• Worked as an apprentice to a lithographer
Disliked it greatly because he was just copying other people’s art
• Later, became an illustrator At 21 yrs., joined Harper’s
Weekly magazine
Winslow Homer: Early Career• During Civil War, sent to the front as an artist-
correspondent for Harper’s
The Army of the Potomac – A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty Home, Sweet Home (c. 1863)
Winslow Homer: Early Career• His most famous painting from the Civil War – Prisoners
from the Front
Winslow Homer: Travels• Homer lived
in and visited many places during his lifetime
• These places were represented in his work
• Here, a fisherman’s family awaits his return
Dad’s Coming (c. 1873)
Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), 1873-1876
Gloucester, Massachusetts• Homer became best known for his “Maritime Art”
• He was wonderful at capturing the many moods of the sea; incorporating drama, suspense and danger
Winslow Homer: Watercolors• Homer suddenly starting
painting with watercolors in 1873.
It had just became a “respectable” medium in the mid-1860’s
Home liked that he could produce and sell them quickly, making more money
• Favorite subjects in both his oil and watercolors
Solitary women, children, nature
The Sick Chicken (c. 1874)
Winslow Homer: Watercolors
The Milk Maid (c. 1878) Fresh Eggs (c. 1874)
• In his early work, Homer often painted rural scenes and farm life
Winslow Homer: Children• Though he never married or had children of his own,
Homer loved painting them in outdoor settings
Winslow Homer: Children• Snap the Whip (1872) was one of his most famous works
• You will see one-room schoolhouses, like the one in this piece, in other Homer paintings
Homer in England• In 1881-82, Homer spent
20 months in the fishing village of Cullercoats, England, on the North Sea
• He loved painting the women and children there.
Sparrow Hall (c. 1881-2)
Girl Carrying a Basket (1882)
Mending the Nets (1882)
The Maine Coast
• In 1883, Homer moved permanently to Prouts Neck, Maine
• He was a loner and enjoyed the isolation there
“Mind your own business” was his favorite phrase
• He loved showing the forces of nature and violent storms at sea
Incoming Tide (c. 1883)
The Maine Coast
• Homer’s paintings often seem like they are telling a story – perhaps in part because of his background as a journalist
The Fog Warning (1885)
The Tropics
The Water Fan (c. 1898)
• Homer would visit tropical locations such as Bahamas, Florida, Cuba & Bermuda to escape harsh winters in Maine.
The Tropics
Salt Kettle, Bermuda (c. 1899)
• Homer often left white parts of the canvas exposed to give a sense of the brilliant atmosphere
Homer’s Legacy• Independent, a loner who never married or had children
• Died in 1910 at his home in Prout’s Neck, Maine
• Ranked as one of the world’s finest watercolorists
• Considered one of the greatest American 19th Century artists
• Best known for his paintings of the sea & his ability to show its many moods
• Known for using the white of the paper for the lightest values
“The Sun will not rise or set without my notice and thanks.”
(Winslow Homer)