When the
kids were young we summered in the Adirondacks.
We rented an unheated cabin with no insulation, no foundation and only
the most basic amenities (there is a photo of part of the interior in my post on the Louvre). It did come with a
couple of prints of paintings by Winslow Homer thumb tacked to the wall by the previous
occupant. These prints were watercolor views of Florida and the Bahamas; subjects
out of place in every way, aside from the fact that I only saw them in the
summertime.
Ironically,
Homer was an avid fisherman who spent summers painting in the Adirondacks. A couple of his Adirondack watercolors would
have been completely in keeping with those summers long ago.
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| Boy Fishing - 1892 |
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| The Blue Boat - 1892 |
Another bit
of irony was that Homer, the painter of peacetime America, got his start as a
war correspondent/illustrator for some major New York City magazines during the
Civil War.
A number of
memorable paintings were produced from his war experiences and sketches at that
time. His skill in capturing the natural
attitudes and look of the citizen soldiers would become a constant throughout his long
career.
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| Home Sweet Home (detail) - 1863 |
His
paintings of the war did not depict the actual fighting, but rather the camp
life, and the more personal actions that he saw while traveling with the
armies.
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| Defiance, Inviting a Shot before Petersburg - 1864 |
In terms of
Homer and the built environment, all I can say is that it was nearly always
kept in the background. People were his
métier, and entire buildings would have overwhelmed the human element.
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| Burmuda - 1901 |
Winslow
Homer was born in Boston Massachusetts in 1836.
He learned watercolor painting from his mother, and was apprenticed to a
lithographer at age 19. At 21 he
indulged his urge to be his own boss, and took on work as a freelance
illustrator. He soon moved to New York
City, and stayed popular and busy, illustrating for the fashionable magazines over
the next 20 years. He recorded the world
of 19th century America without sentimentality, but with a sure
hand, and a strong sense of value and composition. Although he traveled south to cover the Civil
War and spent time in Paris and England, his reputation is anchored to his
views of everyday life in New England.
By 1875 his
paintings were selling well enough for him to quit the illustration
business. From then until his death in
1910 he painted iconic images of the America that was slowly fading away in the
industrialized, urban world. He spent
his time either on the coast of Maine, or on working vacations to the
Caribbean, the nearby Adirondack Mountains or Canada.
Homer the
artist was self taught, and although he soon established a reputation in the art
exhibitions of the day, it took some time for commercial success to
arrive. He was the hermit artist,
preferring to work alone, and never taking on students. However, his solidly balanced color and daring
composition made him a role model for artists and illustrators like Howard Pyle
and N.C. Wyeth.
The
following examples from Homer’s work are taken in chronological order.
The Whittling Boy shows a centered figure in a twisted
pose. The “pin-wheel” effect of the
figure contrasts with the otherwise symmetrical composition. Homer gives the highest contrast to the
figure, while a medium contrast is on left and a low contrast is on the right. Brightly warm coloring is reserved for the
figure, while the background is left with a mix of moderate warm and cool
coloring.
Breezing Up
is perhaps Homer’s most recognizable paintings; it is also an example of his
daring compositional ideas. The foreground
boat is dropping off the page on the left, and the greatest contrast on the
sail is leading the eye off the page.
This bold move is balanced by the schooner in the distance on the right
and the bright red of the old man’s jacket.
The primary focus ends up roughly in the lower left corner following the
golden section, but the route to it is ingenious. Generally the colors follow Homer’s usual habit
of cool background with a warm family of colors on the focus.
How Many Eggs is another off center
composition. It is surprisingly similar
to Frank Lloyd Wright’s compositions (which deserves a post). Everything; contrast, color and brilliance is
at the top. Some scraggly weeds and upset birds occupy the bottom and right margins.
One of
Homer’’s paintings that deliberately flout the traditional compositional rules is Farmer with a Pitchfork. The
figure is dead center, and the figure’s stance is nearly symmetrical. In addition the background is only slightly
asymmetrical. The color balance between the
bright red of the farmer’s shirt and the green field is made possible by the flecks of
red modifying everything in the painting.
Most interestingly, there is a
subtle cloud of muted red around the farmer’s shirt and head, which makes the
painting work for me.
Fisherfolk on the Beach at
Cullercoats is one
of Homer’s watercolors from his time in England. It is less interesting in that it is busier
and more conventional than his usual compositions. The muted color suggests that he was thinking
of the classical traditions of Europe. Although
the composition is traditional, the most crisply delineated figure is set dead
center again. It is perhaps most interesting in that it seems like a precursor of the style or art developed at the art colony in Newlyn, England in the 1880's and '90's.
One of my
favorite paintings is The Fog Warning. It has it all: a pleasing, balanced
composition, a nice balance of cool and warm coloring and an engaging story. It also introduces a subtle repetition of diagonal
shapes in the boat, water and sky, which I like. He has also used a natural value reversal in
the dark fisherman against the light sky, and the white fish against the dark
boat and water. And to top it all off,
it is utterly believable as a snapshot of reality.
Eight Bells has always fascinated me in that it
starts from a painterly, almost abstract work in the background, and
proceeds to a finely observed rendition of flesh, metal and wet storm
gear. The mix of paint daubs on canvas, and realism,
is always miraculous to me.
Winter Coast is a painting of Homer’s later years. It could pass for a completely abstract work
of art. Only the figure and the twisted
branch suggest reality. The composition snubs
all the traditional rules, and the shapes seem to be slipping clear off the
canvas. And yet it works.
Mink Pond always makes me think of Juan
Miro. The objects seem to be randomly floating
along a line across the picture plane. You first notice the white water lily, but then your eye races
back and forth from fish to frog to butterfly. It is another weirdly realistic, abstract painting with a story hidden underneath.
Homer’s
penchant for abstraction and visual slight-of-hand is on display in On the
Trail. A glance will suggest an autumn forest scene, but the hunter and hounds
at the center only come into focus slowly.
What is really impressive about this painting is that it is a
watercolor. Homer has done it all
without allowing the result to become muddy or chaotic.
The Lookout is the first painting, which as
a young child, made me want to “do that”.
I think the easy reality of the bell impressed me the most. In addition it has the “off the frame”
composition that suggests a movie still, and there are shy hints as to the
story behind the image.
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| Palm Trees, Florida - 1904 |
Finally, we
are back in the tropics where we began; palm trees and lucid skies. Which is appropriate, since I am writing this
during a nasty blizzard. There will be snow to
shovel tomorrow morning, but for now I can sit and admire Homer’s brilliant
watercolor and dream of white sandy beaches and warm sun.
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