Boy in Boat, Gloucester
1880/81
Medium
Transparent watercolor, with touches of opaque watercolor and scraping, over graphite, on moderately thick, rough-textured, ivory wove paper
Dimensions
23.2 × 34.9 cm (9 3/16 × 13 3/4 in.)
Classification
watercolor
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
16800
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Homer began Boy in Boat, Gloucester while staying at the lighthouse on Ten Pound Island in the harbor of the fishing town Gloucester, Massachusetts. During his time in Gloucester, the artist frequently depicted local boys playing on boats, fishing, and waiting for their fathers to return from the sea. In this watercolor he began experimenting with scraping, revealing the white of the paper to create highlights in the large rock at right. Furthermore, he was developing his skill in transparent wa...
About the Artist
Winslow Homer · 1836–1910
Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was one of America's greatest painters and a preeminent figure in 19th-century American art. Largely self-taught, Homer began his career as a commercial illustrator and Civil War correspondent for Harper's Weekly before becoming renowned for his powerful marine subjects and landscape paintings. His mastery of both oil and watercolor, combined with his uncompromising reali...