In calm waters near Cape Ann in Massachusetts, four youths in straw hats row their boat in the 1873 painting “Boys in a Dory” by Winslow Homer. The watercolor is simple, a direct reflection of the ease and joy of childhood. Light shines brightly off the rippling water, and boats in Gloucester Harbor cruise by smoothly in the background.
Born in 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Cambridge, Homer came from a long line of New Englanders. His art skills were evident from an early age—he was self-taught for the most part, with some teaching from his mother, who was a skilled amateur watercolorist. As a young man, Homer secured an apprenticeship with J.H. Bufford, a commercial lithographer in Boston, and then opted for freelance work.
His early work consisted of landscape illustrations, but after the American Civil War he focused on capturing simpler times. He continued to portray idyllic American life through the 1870s, often testing what was deemed ‘acceptable’ at the time. In a post-emancipation world, for instance, he painted the lives of former slaves, to the disapproval of many critics.
The summer of 1873 found Homer in Gloucester, where he worked on a series of small-scale watercolors. These works—depicting children playing on the beach, rowing dories and sitting on wharves—were his first professional works in watercolor. His skill in painting maritime scenes caused awe among many critics and art lovers. In a story published in the Evening Mail in 1874, one critic wrote of his work, “You feel the blow of the salt sea breezes and shade your eyes from the dazzling sun glare.”
Homer’s time in Gloucester began his lifelong affinity for watercolors. But with an increasing desire for solitude, the artist moved to Prouts Neck, Maine, in 1883, where he continued to produce brilliant watercolors. In a 2008 essay for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. Barbara Weinberg noted that it was in Maine where Homer focused on work that embodied “the struggle of people against the sea and the relationship of fragile, transient human life to the timelessness of nature.”
He produced many seascapes with textured strokes that convey the sound of crashing waves, rushing water and heavy wind. Homer died in 1910 at the age of 74. He is regarded as one of the best watercolorists in history. As Homer once said of himself, “You will see—in the future, I will live by my watercolors.” — Lidia Goldberg
This article was originally published in the June 2023 issue.
