Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer (1836–1910) is often called America’s favorite painter. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised primarily in nearby Cambridge, he moved at 23 to New York. For the following 16 years he earned a living mostly by designing wood engraved illustrations which he sold to newspapers such as Harper’s Weekly. Homer began exhibiting watercolors in 1874 to critical and popular acclaim, which allowed him to live off the sales of his prolific works in oil and watercolor. He was highly observant in all respects but one: religiosity. He lived across the street from a church in which he is never documented to have worshipped. Yet the annotations in his library, his correspondence, and many attributes of his work suggest that like his devout Christian mother and father, he too walked in faith, albeit at an idiosyncratic amble. Best known for his marine scenes, Homer died in his studio at Prouts Neck, a rocky promontory on the coast of Maine, where he spent much of the last 27 years of his life. The most ambitious display of Winslow Homer’s work in more than a generation is hanging at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through 31 July, 2022 (Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents). A version of the show will open at the National Gallery in London, England, on 10 September, 2022.