Winslow Homer with "The Gulf Stream" in His Studio

Winslow Homer was a painter. He thought of himself as a painter and directed his greatest efforts toward this art form. Whether with oils or watercolors, he sought to push his painting to address large themes, and did so in a vocabulary that broke from many American traditions. As an artist devoted to the world as it is, he saw painting as an effort not only to record a particular place and time,...

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 …