Casting, Number Two by Winslow Homer, 1894. I love the way Homer creates a hazy light across the canvas in his water-based works. This is one of my favourite works of his; I like the mottled green and blue used in the trees and plants that is then reflected into the water’s surface.
Blackboard by Winslow Homer, 1877. This is one of Homer’s more detailed and intricate pieces, especially in the depiction of the figure and patterned clothing.
1836 - 1910
Winslow Homer was an American artist who primarily worked in a Realist style depicting landscapes and marine scenes. He used oils and watercolours but also experimented with wood engravings and etchings. Homer travelled to England and France during his career and later ventured to the exotic climate of the Caribbean, where Salt Kettle, Bermuda was painted. In America, he worked around the north east of the country in Massachusetts, Maine and New York City, where he opened a studio in 1859.
Salt Kettle, Bermuda 1899
Salt Kettle, Bermuda is one of my favourite works by Homer, and indeed throughout the Realist movement. I love the linear style and the reflections of the harbour building on the peninsula waters; the effect reminds me of the artworks we used to create in primary school with layered tissue paper and PVA glue!
Painted at the very end of Homer’s life, Right and Left depicts two ducks in a hunting scene (right and left refer to the shooting action). Notice how the colour palette differs from Salt Kettle, Bermuda: like many other artists such as Claude Monet and Henri Matisse, this muted palette is likely to be because of Homer’s old age and physical condition.
Right and Left 1909
Girl Carrying a Basket by Winslow Homer, 1882. Homer bathes this scene in generous light, leaving whole expanses of the sky and ground as plains of warm colour. He also experiments with brushstroke and intensity of detail, seen in the delicate depiction of the young girl and the scattered style of painting across the sand dunes.
