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List of illustrations

  • Portrait of Martin A. Ryerson
  • A Woman with a Rose
  • Two Women in a Doorway
  • View of the Art Institute
  • Chateau, Cote Saint André
  • The Fountains at Night, World's Columbian Exposition
  • Early Morning after a Storm at Sea
  • On a Lee Shore
  • Winslow Homer in Paris
  • Athena Decorating Funerary Column
  • The Drawing Class
  • Untitled (Flower Study)
  • Farm Scene
  • Minnie Clyde
  • Bob's Dilemma (The Mowers)
  • Corner of Winter, Washington, and Summer Streets
  • Setting a Squirrel Trap
  • Sharpshooter
  • The Army of the Potomac — A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty
  • Caravan with Covered Wagons Resting
  • Campaign Sketches: Title Page, Part 1
  • The Veteran in a New Field
  • Croquet Scene
  • Washerwomen
  • Haymakers
  • Hark! The Lark
  • Return from the Fields
  • Artists Sketching in the White Mountains
  • Mount Washington
  • On the Battenkill
  • Winslow Homer at Marshfield
  • Shipyard at Gloucester
  • Brace's Rock, Brace's Cove
  • On Guard
  • The Whittling Boy
  • Seven Boys in a Dory
  • Gloucester Harbor
  • Gloucester Harbor
  • Three Boys in a Dory with Lobster Pots
  • How Many Eggs?
  • Raid on a Sand Swallow Colony — "How Many Eggs?
  • Boy with Anchor
  • Boy in a Boatyard
  • Waiting for Dad (Longing)
  • Dad's Coming!
  • Dad's Coming!
  • Fresh Eggs
  • Contraband
  • The Busy Bee
  • Two Boys in a Wagon
  • Taking Sunflower to Teacher
  • Woman and Elephant
  • The New Novel
  • The New Trinket
  • Blackboard
  • Girl Reading
  • Young Woman Sewing
  • Moonlight
  • Fresh Air
  • A Shady Spot, Houghton Farm
  • Fishing
  • The Pumpkin Patch
  • The Last Furrow
  • Eastern Point Light
  • Sunset at Gloucester
  • Gloucester Sunset
  • Sunset Fires
  • Nocturne: Blue and Gold—Southampton Water
  • Portrait of Winslow Homer in New York
  • Waterfall
  • In Wales between Bangor and Capel Curig
  • Mer de Glace, in the Valley of Chamouni, Switzerland
  • Four Boys on a Beach
  • In Charge of Baby
  • Frontispiece and title page of "Modern Chromatics: Students' Text Book of Color with Applications to Art and Industry" (D. Appleton and Company)
  • Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On)
  • Sailboat and Fourth of July Fireworks
  • Liber Studiorum: Aesacus and Hesperié
  • The Turner and Vernon Rooms in the South Kensington Museum
  • A Corner of the Turner Room in the National Gallery
  • Group of Three Nude Men
  • Christ Driving the Money-Changers from the Temple
  • The Houses of Parliament
  • Cullercoats Village
  • Winslow Homer's Cottage at 44b Front Street, Cullercoats
  • Beach Scene, Cullercoats
  • A Fishergirl Baiting Lines
  • The Mussel Gatherers
  • Looking Over the Cliff
  • Girl with Red Stockings (The Wreck)
  • Mending the Nets
  • Windy Day, Cullercoats
  • Inside the Bar
  • The Wreck of the Iron Crown
  • Four Fishwives
  • The Breakwater, Cullercoats
  • Winslow Homer and a Group at the Water's Edge
  • Tree Roots on a Hillside, Prout's Neck
  • Rough Work (Fisher Girls on Rocks)
  • Surf, Prout's Neck
  • Surf near Eastern Point
  • Incoming Tide, Scarboro, Maine
  • The Dory
  • Study for "The Herring Net"
  • The Herring Net
  • Deep Sea Fishing
  • Among the Vegetables
  • Sunlight on the Coast
  • Coast of Maine
  • Blown Away
  • The Artist's Studio in an Afternoon Fog
  • Prout's Neck, Surf on Rocks
  • West Point, Prout's Neck
  • Artists on the Ausable River
  • Deer Stalking in the Adirondacks in Winter
  • Log Jam, Hudson River at Blue Ledge, Essex County (The Log Jam)
  • Hudson River, Logging
  • Leaping Trout
  • Mink Pond
  • Winslow Homer in a Canoe
  • A Quiet Pool on a Sunny Day
  • Sunrise, Fishing in the Adirondacks
  • Landscape with Deer in a Morning Haze
  • Old Settlers
  • Two Men in a Canoe
  • An October Day
  • American Field Sports: A Chance for Both Barrels
  • Dog on a Log
  • Hunting Dogs in Boat (Waiting for the Start)
  • The End of the Hunt
  • After the Hunt
  • Guide Carrying a Deer
  • Huntsman and Dogs
  • The Blue Boat
  • Building a Smudge
  • Burnt Mountain
  • The Guide
  • The Adirondack Guide
  • Old Friends
  • Under the Falls, The Grand Discharge
  • Canoe in Rapids
  • Shooting the Rapids
  • The Eagle's Nest
  • Native Hut, Nassau
  • Orange Tree, Nassau
  • Glass Windows, Bahamas
  • Boy Climbing a Coconut Tree
  • The Conch Divers
  • Sponge Fishermen, Bahamas
  • Santiago de Cuba
  • Street Corner, Santiago de Cuba
  • St. Johns River, Florida
  • Rowing Home
  • Under the Coco Palm
  • West India Divers
  • The Sponge Diver
  • The Gulf Stream
  • Winslow Homer with "The Gulf Stream" in His Studio
  • Shark Fishing
  • Watson and the Shark
  • Sharks (The Derelict)
  • Study for "The Gulf Stream"
  • Sloop, Nassau
  • Schooner – Nassau
  • Hauling in Anchor
  • Fishing Boats, Key West
  • Salt Kettle, Bermuda
  • Homosassa Jungle
  • Winslow Homer's copy of "Chevreul on Colours"
  • Portrait of Michel-Eugène Chevreul pasted into Homer's copy of "Chevreul on Colours"
  • Diagram illustrating the simultaneous contrast of color
  • On the Sands
  • Diagram illustrating the muddying effect created by juxtaposing noncomplementary colors
  • Diagram illustrating the simultaneous contrast of tone
  • Sketch for "Hound and Hunter
  • Home, Sweet Home
  • Home, Sweet Home, detail
  • Diagram showing Chevreul's experiment to demonstrate the modifications produced by two lights of different intensities
  • Sparrow Hall
  • The Country School
  • The West Wind
  • A Good Shot, Adirondacks
  • Flower Garden and Bungalow, Bermuda
  • On the Stile
  • Montagnais Indians (Indians Making Canoes)
  • An Afterglow
  • Bermuda Settlers
  • The Blue Boat, detail
  • Watercolor box, with folding Morocco pouchcase and porcelain-tipped burnisher, owned by Winslow Homer
  • Pigments Used by Winslow Homer
  • Tynemouth Priory, England, detail
  • The Return, Tynemouth, detail
  • Prout's Neck, Breakers, detail
  • Prout's Neck, Breakers, detail
  • The Herring Net, detail
  • Prout's Neck, Breakers, detail
  • Breaking Storm, Coast of Maine, detail
  • A Garden in Nassau, detail
  • The Cock Fight, detail
  • After the Hurricane, Bahamas, detail
  • The Water Fan, detail
  • Schooner – Nassau, detail
  • Adirondacks Guide, detail
  • For to Be a Farmer's Boy, photomicrograph
  • For to Be a Farmer's Boy, digital simulation
  • North Woods Club, Adirondacks, ultraviolet photograph
  • North Woods Club, Adirondacks, photomicrograph
  • North Woods Club, Adirondacks, digital simulation
  • The Sponge Diver, digital simulation
  • Children Sitting on a Fence, detail
  • Children Sitting on a Fence
  • Children on a Fence
  • Apple Picking, detail
  • Apple Picking
  • Weary, photomicrograph
  • Weary, photomicrograph taken under raking light
  • Weary
  • Man with Plow Horse, photomicrograph
  • Man with Plow Horse
  • Boy and Horse Plowing
  • Mold-induced spots on an old book page, shown before the application of watercolor
  • Boy in Boat, Gloucester, detail
  • Boy in Boat, Gloucester
  • Two Boys Watching Schooners, seen under ultraviolet light
  • Detail of madder watercolor swatches seen under normal and ultraviolet light (top and bottom, respectively)
  • Two Boys Watching Schooners
  • Tynemouth Priory, England, detail
  • Tynemouth Priory, England
  • Fishing Off Scarborough, detail
  • Flamborough Head, England, detail
  • Flamborough Head, England
  • The Return, Tynemouth, infrared photograph
  • The Return, Tynemouth, infrared detail
  • The Return, Tynemouth
  • The Return, Tynemouth, photomicrograph
  • Fishing Off Scarborough
  • Returning Fishing Boats
  • The Watcher, Tynemouth, detail
  • The Watcher, Tynemouth
  • Prout's Neck, Breakers, detail
  • Prout's Neck, Breakers
  • Prout's Neck, Breaking Wave, detail
  • Prout's Neck, Breaking Wave, detail showing Homer's fingerprints
  • Prout's Neck, Breaking Wave
  • Watercolor box owned by Winslow Homer
  • For to Be a Farmer's Boy, photomicrograph
  • For to Be a Farmer's Boy
  • Catalog illustration of a drawing block of the type Homer used
  • Sunshine and Shadow, detail
  • Sunshine and Shadow, Prout's Neck
  • Two brushes belonging to Winslow Homer
  • Prout's Neck, Evening
  • Breaking Storm, Coast of Maine, detail
  • Breaking Storm, Coast of Maine
  • The Outlook, Maine Coast, detail
  • The Outlook, Maine Coast
  • The Rapids, Hudson River, Adirondacks, detail
  • The Rapids, Hudson River, Adirondacks
  • Diagram showing the direct correspondence between "Netting the Fish" and "Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake"
  • Netting the Fish
  • Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake
  • The Lone Boat, detail
  • The Lone Boat, North Woods Club, Adirondacks
  • North Woods Club, detail
  • North Woods Club, detail
  • North Woods Club, Adirondacks [The Interrupted Tête-à-tête]
  • The End of the Day, Adirondacks, detail
  • Illustration of a flat brush with a round end similar to the type Homer used in "The End of the Day, Adirondacks
  • The End of the Day, Adirondacks
  • Adirondacks Guide, photomicrograph
  • Adirondacks Guide
  • Campfire, Adirondacks, photomicrograph
  • Campfire, Adirondacks
  • A Garden in Nassau, infrared detail
  • A Garden in Nassau
  • The Cock Fight, detail
  • The Cock Fight
  • The Water Fan, detail
  • The Water Fan
  • After the Hurricane, Bahamas, detail
  • After the Hurricane, Bahamas
  • The Gulf Stream, infrared detail
  • The Gulf Stream
  • Stowing Sail, detail
  • Stowing Sail
  • Life-Size Black Bass
Free
Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Contents
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.001
Free
Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Winslow Homer’s art has long been beloved by American audiences. So many of his images explore aspects of our national identity that are especially meaningful to us, from military heroism and innocent childhood to hard work and a reverence for nature. As Walt Whitman did with language in the same period, Homer used his artistic tools and materials to craft a strong, original style. He developed unorthodox methods of representation to conjure tangible, visceral experiences. Looking at the world …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.002
Free
Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
At its inception, this project began as an inquiry into the Winslow Homer watercolors in the Art Institute’s collection. However, as research progressed, it quickly became apparent that contextualizing these works in an exhibition was critical to advancing the general understanding of Homer’s practice as a watercolor painter. This undertaking would have been impossible without the generosity and goodwill of the many lending institutions. We owe a debt of gratitude to the staff members of these …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.003
Free
Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
In order to accurately describe the materials and working methods that Winslow Homer employed in his watercolors and drawings, the Art Institute of Chicago uses the following terms when referring to works in its collection. Opaque watercolor refers to the appearance of any opaque aqueous media achieved by using opaque pigments, adding a white pigment or bulking agent (as in gouache), and/or manipulating the media and methods of application. Transparent watercolor describes …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.004
Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
The Art Institute of Chicago is fortunate to include among its holdings of American art twenty-five watercolors and three monochrome drawings by Winslow Homer, all of which were donated by area collectors between 1927 and 2007. Twenty of these works were acquired in the 1910s by the cultural leader and philanthropist Martin A. Ryerson (see figure 1), who bequeathed them to the Art Institute in 1933. The museum can hardly claim to have led the way in acquiring Homer’s works. Other public …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.005

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Winslow Homer (see figure 1), who created among the most breathtaking and influential images in the history of watercolor, was, famously, a man who received almost no formal artistic education. Acknowledged even in his own day as America’s most “original” and “independent” painter in watercolors, he had an intuitive rather than a tutored relationship with this challenging yet flexible medium. Between 1873 and 1905, he created nearly 700 watercolors. A staple of his livelihood, these works were …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
Related print edition pages: pp.18-34
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.006

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Winslow Homer inaugurated his career as a serious watercolorist with stunning suddenness in the summer of 1873. In late June or early July, he arrived in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and proceeded over the next two months to paint some thirty works. Although he had employed watercolor washes in the past to tint his drawings and to indicate areas of shadow in his designs for wood engravings, the Gloucester pictures represent his first sustained use of the medium to create independent works of art …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
Related print edition pages: pp.36-74
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.007

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
We know as much about the time Winslow Homer spent in England as we do about any portion of his life, which is to say not very much (see figure 1). He never spoke about the trip to the press, and any letters describing what he saw or did there have apparently vanished. Nevertheless, this episode is particularly intriguing because it marks a turning point in his work and career, changing his art in important ways and also preparing him to change his own life, for soon after he returned to …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
Related print edition pages: pp.76-106
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.008

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
The lessons of England had profound implications for Winslow Homer, certainly for his art but also for the way he would choose to live in the years to come. Staying in a small fishing village on the North Sea and bearing witness daily to the primal struggle between man and the forces of nature, he achieved a new level of self-knowledge about the conditions under which his work could thrive. When he returned to New York in November 1882, it must have been something of a shock to find himself back …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
Related print edition pages: pp.108-134
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.009

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
In September 1870, thirteen years before he settled on the Maine coast, Winslow Homer made the first of many visits to the Adirondack Mountains. This vast wilderness in northern New York offered artists a limitless selection of natural wonders: high mountain peaks, old forests, thousands of lakes, ponds, rapids, and waterfalls, and the mighty Hudson River (see figure 1). For Homer, the region provided the things he cherished and needed most: privacy, plentiful subject matter, the chance to focus …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
Related print edition pages: pp.136-168
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.010

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
As a watercolorist, Winslow Homer intuitively adapted his practice to the unique environmental characteristics of the places he painted. This is particularly apparent in the works he created in the tropical areas he visited – the Bahamas, Cuba, Bermuda, and Florida – between 1884 and 1905. Punctuating his life at Prout’s Neck with regular trips to the Adirondacks and occasional sojourns in Canada and the tropics, the artist kept his engagement with watercolor alive – and the public interested …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
Related print edition pages: pp.170-198
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.011

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
In late September 1903, Winslow Homer welcomed John Beatty, the director of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Institute, to his home and studio in Prout’s Neck, Maine. While there, Beatty noticed a tattered book on color theory. Beatty asked Homer if he found the work to be of value, and the artist replied, “It is my Bible.” …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
Related print edition pages: pp.199-205
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.012

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Winslow Homer began using watercolor as an independent medium in 1873. Throughout the next three decades, he explored a range of styles, techniques, and themes in close to 700 works, achieving a mastery considered by many to be unparalleled in nineteenth-century America. In these pictures, he transcribed nature not only as he saw it but as he experienced it, combining psychological undertones with descriptive evocations of time and weather. The primary tools he used to create these records …
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
Related print edition pages: pp.206-214
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.013

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Technical Commentaries
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.017

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Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Selected Bibliography
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.014

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

Free
Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Index of Technical Terms
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.015
Free
Description: Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
Index of Works
PublisherArt Institute of Chicago
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.016
Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light
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